At least four Taliban fighters have been killed and several villages have been recaptured from the Taliban insurgents in the northern Baghlan province, provincial police chief Noor Habib Gulbahari said Monday.

"At least four Taliban rebels have been killed, five injured and several villages have been liberated from Taliban clutches in Dand-e-Ghori district over the past 24 hours," Gulbahari told reporters.

Taliban militants haven't commented.

Government forces launched a major offensive early weekend to dislodge militants from their positions in Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabudin districts.

The northern Baghlan province with Pul-e-Khumri as its capital 160 km north of Kabul has been the scene of Taliban-led insurgency over the past few years.

source: Xinhua