The Afghan National Army (ANA) forces carried out 69 special operations in the past 24 hours to secure areas under terrorists’ threats in different parts of the country, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Friday. 

The operations were conducted in Farah, Badghis, Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan, Uruzgan, Ghazni and Helmand provinces, the ministry said. 

The ministry added that the operations were supported by the Afghan Air Force in which the unit carried out at least 100 flights to support the ground forces and meanwhile targeted many terrorists’ strongholds in the provinces.

According to the ministry, 23 terrorists including 16 Taliban fighters were killed and 21 others were wounded and in the military operations.

The Ministry of Defense said eight clearance operations were also carried out by the Afghan National Army forces in the past 24 hours.

This comes a day after the deputy spokesman of Ministry of Defense, Mohammad Radmanish said, the Afghan National Army is preparing to launch a series of operations in areas under threats of militants to secure the upcoming parliamentary and district councils’ elections in the country. 

“We will use all our resources to secure the elections,” the MoD deputy spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told TOLOnews on Thursday. “Our plans will be implemented in the near future.”