KANDAHAR, July 23: At least 23 people, most of them Taliban, were killed in new unrest in Afghanistan as the southern city of Kandahar was tense following a pair of deadly suicide blasts.

Nineteen Taliban were killed and 17 fighters, including two Pakistani nationals, arrested on Sunday in a raid by Afghan forces in southern Helmand province, deputy provincial governor Mulla Amir Akhundzada said.

The operation near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah was launched after elders from several villages complained that the Taliban were intimidating residents, including by allegedly extorting money from them, he said.

In other incidents, police said three policemen were killed and three kidnapped in a Taliban attack on a police check-point in southeastern Ghazni province.—AFP