Militants loyal to the former Taliban regime have stepped up their activities in the restive southern provinces ahead of NATO troops' deployment in the region as militia attacks claimed the lives of about 40 people over the past two days.

The militants in a coordinated attack launched in Sangin district of the troubled Helmand province Friday morning left 20 Taliban dead, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Yusuf Stanizi said Saturday.

"In the firefight, five policemen were also killed," the deputy provincial governor of Helmand Amir Mohammad Akhund told Xinhua.

In the districts of Musa Qala and Nawzad, the Taliban-linked militants in their latest attacks carried out Friday night murdered the district chief of Musa Qala and a police officer in Nawzad, and wounded three other policemen, according to the deputy governor.

During the counter attacks and exchange of fire three Taliban militias were also killed on the spot.

"The government has initiated a clean up operation in the districts of Nawzad, Musa Qala, Sangin and Greshk and so far 20 Taliban rebels have been killed, 20 wounded and five others were captured," Yosuf Stanizi told Xinhua.

He also added that 300 troops of the Afghanistan National Army and Police were involved in the operation launched yesterday.

Backing the mopping up, the U.S. air force also got involved in the operation and pounded militants position leaving eight militias dead, police chief of Greshk district of Helmand Haji Khan Mohammad said.

"Close-air support was called to the scene of the attack. British Harriers, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft responded to the scene attacking enemy positions forcing them to flee into a nearby town," U.S. military said in a press release.

Meantime, some locals disputed the claim and said few of the bombardment's victims were civilians including women and children.

The deputy provincial governor of Helmand said since the government is in the process of eliminating the poppy cultivation these days, some 200 Taliban militants gathered in Sangin district and tried to bothered the elimination process. And this time when the official convoy was passing the area, they launched the attack.

The remaining militants, according to Akhundzada, fled away, while on the other hand, Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yosuf Ahmadi rejected the deputy governor's claim and said the Taliban fighters had not run away, but carried out different attacks by different group of militants.

According to some reports, the provincial governor of the neighboring Kandahar province, together with about 100 policemen, has gone to Helmand to help the further cleanup operation.

While Helmand is in the process of bloody fights, some attacks also shook another former Taliban stronghold Kandahar.

A roadside bomb explosion aimed at targeting police vehicle in Brishnakot area of Kandahar city Saturday, as local officials said left one woman and her child dead and wounded three others.

A Taliban commander Mullah Samad Akhund, was killed in exchange of fire with government troops in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar last night, the frontier police commander of the district Abdul Razaq confirmed to Xinhua.

The new wave of violence is taking place weeks ahead of NATO's reinforcement in south Afghanistan.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization would boost its presence from current some 9,000 troops currently to 15,000 within the next few months.

Source: Xinhua