KABUL, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - At least 23 Taliban militants have been killed in NATO airstrikes in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, an Afghan Army spokesman said on Tuesday.

The airstrikes were part of a special military operation, which started on Monday in several Afghan provinces, to clear the volatile region of militants.

Several Afghan soldiers were injured when militants returned fire with heavy weaponry at a military convoy. According to the spokesman, two Afghan military vehicles were damaged in the barrage.

On Monday and Tuesday two other Afghan service personnel were injured in operations in the Helmand and Khowst provinces.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months, with the radical Islamic Taliban group, toppled in a 2001 U.S.-led campaign, staging regular attacks on provincial government officials, police and civilians.