Local officials of southern Zabul province on Saturday said that 14 insurgents were killed in an Afghan security forces operation. Four others were injured.
The clearing operation was launched on Friday night in Qalat city and neighboring Safa district, said provincial security official Ghulaam Gelani.
Officials did not report any casualties amongst Afghan forces or civilians.
Lying in what has been called the heartland of the Taliban insurgency, southern Zabul province is one of the most restive areas in the country.
However, Afghan security forces have ramped up operations across the country in preparation for the upcoming 2014 elections.
According the Ministry of Interior, seven districts remain inaccessible to voter registration teams from the Independent Election Commission (IEC). Four of those seven districts were said to have no Afghan security force presence whatsoever.
There are over 350,000 Afghan soldiers serving at the moment. Foreign troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after handing over full security responsibility to the Afghan forces.
Nevertheless, coalition and Afghan officials maintain that nearly all operational oversight has been handed over to the Afghan forces already.