KABUL: Afghan police and army, backed by NATO-led coalition forces, have killed 16 Taliban insurgents and detained 14 other suspects within the past 24 hours, the country' s Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

"Afghan police, army and coalition forces launched seven joint cleanup operations in Kabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz and Zabul provinces, killing 16 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 14 others over the past 24 hours,"the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates to media.

They also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without saying if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching of a spring offensive from May 3 against Afghan and NATO forces, has yet to make any comments.

Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against insurgents recently. According to figures released by the Interior Ministry, around 540 insurgents have been killed, 116 wounded and over 500 others detained since May 1 by joint forces.

However, the insurgents responded by carrying out suicide attacks and roadside bombings.

Two civilians were killed and six policemen injured in a Taliban suicide bombing in northern Balkh province Tuesday morning, hours after a roadside bomb attack left five civilians dead and two others seriously injured in eastern Wardak province.