KABUL, June 10: US-led troops carried out sweeps of former Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan on Thursday as part of an offensive aimed at stemming a spiral of violence in the lead-up to September elections, officials said.

"The operation in the (south central) area is still going on," military spokesman for southern Afghanistan Gen Abdul Wasay said. Around 70 suspected militants have been killed since the US-led operation in south central Uruzgan and south-eastern Zabul began last week, southern Kandahar's military commander Khan Mohammed said on Wednesday.

"Most of the people killed have died due to bombings in different mountainous areas," Khan Mohammed said. "As we go into areas and secure them we find bodies lying here and there."

"Coalition planes are patrolling the valleys," he said on Thursday. More than 20 insurgents were killed in action and eight were captured on Wednesday, US army spokeswoman Master Sergeant Cindy Beam said on Thursday.

BOMB BLAST: A US convoy survived a roadside bomb blast in south-eastern Afghanistan on Thursday with no injuries, officials said.

The explosion shattered the windows of a US-led coalition vehicle as the convoy patrolled in Bak district of Khost province, some 140 kilometers southeast of Kabul, provincial military commander Khial Baz Khan said. "There were three bombs, one went off but the two others were defused by the soldiers," Khan said. -AFP