Up to 16 Taliban insurgents have been killed during military operations across Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, authorities said Tuesday.

"Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan army and the NATO-led coalition forces launched three joint cleanup operations in Kunar, Logar and Helmand provinces, killing eight armed Taliban insurgents over the past 24 hours," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The statement didn't say if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

Four militants were detained and two others were injured during the above raids, according to the statement.

In a separate development, eight Taliban militants were killed during a special search operation conducted by the ANP in Yamgan district of Badakhshan province early Tuesday morning, a provincial government spokesman said.

Seven injured militants were detained by the police in the northwest province, spokesman Abdul Maruf Rasikh told Xinhua, adding one policeman was killed and another was injured during the raid.

Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militant groups throughout the country recently. More than 800 insurgents have been killed and over 550 others detained over the past two months, according to the figures released by the Interior Ministry.

However, the insurgents responded by carrying out suicide attacks and roadside bombings especially in southern and eastern parts of the country.

Taliban launched a suicide car bomb attack on convoy of provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq in southern Kandahar province, killing four civilians and injuring 21 others including Raziq late Monday night.