Twenty-three militants have been killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, the authorities said on Saturday.

In southern Kandahar province, 12 Taliban militants were killed in an engagement with Afghan Border Police (ABP) in Shina Nali area of Arghistan district bordering Pakistan, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq told Xinhua.

"A handful of weapons and several motorbikes were also seized by ABP following the clash which took place near an ABP outpost," Raziq noted.

The Interior Ministry said the Afghan police, army and National Directorate of Security have conducted a series of operations in different provinces over the last 24 hours, killing eight Taliban militants.

"The operations were conducted in Baghlan, Faryab, Herat and Helmand provinces. As a result eight armed Taliban were killed, eight wounded and one was arrested by Afghan National Security Forces," the ministry said in a statement.

In western Farah province, 695 km west of Kabul, three militants were killed and five others wounded in an army operation in Shiwan district Friday night, an army spokesman Colonel Abdul Raouf Rahmani told Xinhua.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, has said that Taliban will step up their attacks on Afghan and foreign troops and other targets throughout the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which began on Wednesday.