19 Taliban miltants, four soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Kabul, May 19 (IANS) At least 19 militants and four soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since Saturday, the government and security sources said Sunday.

According to the defence ministry, the four soldiers were killed in a bomb attack.

"Four Afghan National Army soldiers were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack, " Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying in a statement without giving detail, but adding 10 militants were killed and their weapons were seized during security operations in Ghazni and Kandahar provinces since Saturday.

Earlier Sunday, nine Taliban militants were killed when their IED went off prematurely in Ghazni, a security source said.