Airstrikes kill 15 militants in Afghanistan

Kabul, July 5 A total of 15 Taliban militants were killed in airstrikes as the fighters have been mobilised to overrun Kunduz city, capital of Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, an army spokesman said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, warplanes from the Afghan government forces targeted a Taliban gathering outside Kunduz city early Monday, killing 15 insurgents on the spot, spokesman Abdul Hadi Nazari said.

A number of arms and ammunitions of the militants were also destroyed during the raids, Xinhua news agency reported citing the spokesman as saying.

Taliban militants, who have captured five out of nine districts of the beleaguered Kunduz province and have been attempting to occupy the provincial capital Kunduz city, have yet to make comment on the airstrikes.

Fighting has intensified since the start of withdrawal of the US-led forces from Afghanistan on May 1 and the Taliban group has reportedly captured more than 100 districts in the conflict-torn country.