Kandahar and the neighboring Helmand province has long been a stronghold for insurgent groups despite several military operations by U.S. troops and Afghan security forces over the past couple of years.
Figures released by the Afghan Interior Ministry showed more than 35 insurgents had been killed and nearly 130 others detained during joint military operations since the beginning of January across the country.
However, the militants responded by carrying out suicide bombings, ambushes, armed attacks and IED blasts against the security forces which also caused casualties on the civilians.
"This week (12-18 January 2013) there have been a total of five local nationals, including two children, injured by insurgent actions in the Musa Qala, Sangin, Kajaki and Now Zad districts of Helmand province. One child received burns to more than 50 percent of his body from an IED blast. Three adult local nationals also received injuries from IEDs placed by insurgents. All those injured were taken to ISAF facilities for medical treatment," the ISAF's Regional Command Southwest said in a statement on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Taliban launched a coordinated suicide attack against an Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) or intelligence agency office building in Kabul, killing one NDS service men and injuring more than 30 civilians in an attack that also left all six bombers dead.
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