The Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Sunday said over 20,000 land and air operations were launched by the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan Air Force (AAF) in the first six months of this year. 

Defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said 440 key insurgent strongholds were destroyed in these operations in various parts of the country and hundreds of insurgents were killed or wounded. 

According to Waziri, among those killed were 1,022 Daesh fighters who were mostly killed in Nangarhar province.

Waziri said the operations were as follows:

• 3,122 pre-planned land operations

• 3,090 operations by Special Forces

• 271 night operations by Special Forces

• 2,460 air strikes by Afghan Air Force

Waziri said the number of flights made by the Afghan Air Force totaled 17,356 of which 2,460 were airstrikes.

“The insurgents do not have the ability to fight the security forces on the battlefields and they carry out terrorist activities at gatherings, mosques and other places,” said Waziri. 

The defense ministry said hundreds of insurgents including 292 commanders of Taliban and Daesh were killed in the first six months of this year as a result of Afghan forces operations. 

“From the beginning of the year up to now the level of the war has dropped and security forces have changed their position from that of a defensive stance to an offensive one. You know Nawa district (in Helmand) has been cleared of Taliban,” Mohammad Hashim Alokozay, head of defense commission of Meshrano Jirga said. 

“I hope that security forces maintain security which is a big aim of the Afghan people,” Amir Mohammad Akhundzada, former governor of Uruzgan said. 

The defense ministry figures have not been confirmed by armed anti-government groups.