MAIMANA - A key Taliban commander and his deputy have been killed in the northern Afghan province of Faryab on Saturday, police said.

“Acting on tip-off the security forces organized ambush on the enemies in an area of Shirin Tagab district early this morning, killing Mawlawi Gulistan the head of Taliban’s military commission and his deputy Mawlawi Mansoor on the spot,” provincial police spokesman Abdul Karim Yurush told Xinhua.

The spokesman said their physical elimination is a big achievement for the security forces that could demoralize the insurgents in Faryab and the neighboring Jawzjan and Sari Pul provinces.

Taliban militants, who are active in parts of Faryab including Shirin Tagab district, are threatening the provincial capital Maimana if their activities go unchecked.

Meantime, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh said on Saturday that additional forces had been sent to thwart militants activities in Shirin Tagab and adjoining areas.

Meanwhile, Afghan forces launched cleanup operations to wipe up the remnants of insurgents from the troubled Kohistan district in Afghanistan’s northern province of Badakhsahn, an official said Saturday. “Security forces entered the Kohistan district early Saturday to completely drive insurgents out of the district,” Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, an army spokesperson in the northern region, told Xinhua. The Taliban militants briefly overrun Kohistan district couple of weeks ago. Although the militants have been evicted from the district headquarters they are at nearby and can storm the security checkpoints at any time. According to Karimi, the security forces are determined to destroy militants hideouts in Kohistan district to ensure lasting peace there. Taliban militants who are already in control of Wardoj and Yamgan districts in Badakhshan haven’t commented.