At least 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander were killed in an ambush by the militant Islamic State (IS) group in northern Zawzjan province, a provincial official said.

Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the Zawzjan provincial governor, said Saturday that the police officers were ambushed Friday as they were coming out of a mosque.

The wife of the police commander heard about her husband being shot and rushed to the scene, where she was also killed.

IS-linked militants have been active in Afghanistan's eastern regions, but have recently begun operating in the north of the country as well.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Interior ministry in a statement sent to media said that around 38 militants, including 23 IS terrorists, were killed in separate operations conducted by Afghan security forces in east and southern regions of the country over the last two days.

Eight other militants were wounded and six arrested in the operations, which were conducted in districts in both eastern Nangarhar and southern Helmand provinces, the statement added.

In another report form eastern Laghman province, two students were killed when a mortar struck a classroom in a school, a news release from the Education ministry said.

The statement added that five other students were wounded inside the classroom in Mihterlam, the capital of the province. It was not clear from which side of the fight the mortar was fired, but there were unconfirmed reports the mortar was fired by Afghan security forces and missed its target and hit the school, the report could not immediately be verified by provincial or government officials.