More than two dozen suspected Taliban militants killed

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan and international security forces have killed more than two dozen suspected Taliban militants and captured several others in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported Thursday.

ISAF said the security forces were pursuing a senior Taliban leader into the village of Kharid-e Olya Wednesday night, when they engaged insurgents in a firefight. There were no civilian casualties, according to ISAF.

In southern Afghanistan, security forces arrested 40 suspected Taliban members in Helmand province, a government spokesman said Thursday.

The two-and-a-half-hour operation took place in the Nawzad district of the province Wednesday, according to Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

In addition to the suspected militants, security forces confiscated munitions, Ahmadi said. There were no reported casualties.

- CNN's Matiullah Mati contributed to this report.