At least 18 militants and three security force members were killed in separate gunfights in two northern Afghan provinces, authorities said on Thursday.
In Badakhshan province, three security force members and 12 Taliban militants were killed in two clashes in Tashkan and Shahada districts Wednesday night, officials said.
Two Afghan soldiers and 20 militants were also wounded after the gun battles in the mountainous province Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, reports Xinhua.
In neighbouring Baghlan province, six militants were killed and nine others wounded in clash in Dushi district late Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Zabiullah Shuja said.
Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in south and east to the once peaceful region in the north, where Taliban have been recruiting among the youth.