Afghan security personnel take part in a military operation in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2018. Afghan forces have killed 15 militants and destroyed many of their hideouts during a major operation currently underway in Ghazni, eastern Afghanistan, local police said Saturday. (Xinhua/Sayed Mominzadah)

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces have killed 15 militants and destroyed many of their hideouts during a major operation currently underway in Ghazni, eastern Afghanistan, local police said Saturday.

"Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDFS) launched a military operation on Friday in Nani, Nawghai, Mangoor, and Qarabaghi, on outskirts of provincial capital Ghazni city," provincial police Chief Gen.Mohammad Zaman told Xinhua.

Clashes broke out in a couple of villages to resist the operation, leaving 15 Taliban militants killed and 20 others injured but no member of ANDSF was hurt during the fighting, he said.

The operation will continue before the areas are cleared from the presence of militants, he added.

The ANDSF and U.S.-led coalition forces continued mopping-up operations across Afghanistan but the militants attack government interests in the provinces from time to time.

On Friday, two policemen were killed and one dozen people injured in a Taliban suicide car bombing in southern Kandahar province.