[Tolo News] At least 20 insurgents have been killed in joint operations conducted by Afghan and coalition forces in the southern Paktia province in the past 5 daysAmong the killed insurgents who belong to Haqqani terrorist network, there are Chechen, Pakistani and Arab rebels as well, a NATO Press Release said.
The operations were conducted in mountainous areas bordered by the southern provinces of Paktia and Khost.
Most of the insurgents are reportedly killed in NATO air strikes.
NATO forces have surrounded hundreds of militants of the Haqqani network in the province's Zadran district, where militants conducted attacks on Kabul-Gardiz highway, the Press Release adds.
In the operations that had started on Wednesday, scores of the Haqqani network militants were arrested along with heavy and small arms.
Afghan and NATO forces have escalated their counter-insurgency attacks in Afghanistan's volatile regions, in an effort to wipe out Taliban militants in these areas.
Taliban insurgents have suffered the most casualties in these operations.