KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 109 Taliban militants were killed and 25 wounded during battles and clashes in two Afghan southern provinces on Friday, as fighting raged in the Asian country, the military confirmed on Saturday.

In Kandahar province, 70 Taliban militants were killed and eight others wounded after Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) supported by Afghan Air Force (AAF) conducted a cleanup operation in Police District 7 of provincial capital, Kandahar city and neighboring suburban Dand district, army's 205th Attal Corps wrote in a statement.

Early on Friday Taliban attacked ANDSF positions and tried to infiltrate to Kandahar city, triggering day-long heavy battles.

In neighboring Helmand province, 39 Taliban militants were killed and 17 wounded after ANDSF backed by the AAF targeted a Taliban aggregation in Qala-e-Bulan, an area on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah city, according to army's 215th Maiwand Corps.

Two militants' local key leaders, Tazagul and Nehmon, were among the killed, according to the source.

Huge amount of militants' weapons and ammunition were also destroyed in the two provinces.

Details about possible casualties on the side of the security forces were unclear. The Taliban militant group has not made comments on the reports so far.

While the U.S. and NATO troops have been leaving the country, violence in the country is on the rise. To check the situation, the Afghan government security forces also continued to press the militants.