According to the defense ministry, during an operation carried out by Afghan and foreign special forces 30 Taliban militants were killed in southern Helmand province on Wednesday.

The Afghan defense ministry said that four targets were selected on Wednesday for the five-hour attack and that Mullah Abdul Barry, a Taliban commander, was also killed.

According to the press statement which was released, 11 other rebels were arrested.

The statement said: "Mullah Abdul Barry, a Taliban commander, was wounded in the attacks and later died of his wounds in hospital," AFP reports.

The targets hit by the troops were insurgent cells between Musa Qala and Kajaki districts of Helmand province.

Musa Qala district was a Taliban stronghold last year and three other districts from the Helmand province are still under the control of militants.

"The operation was supported by air power which killed 30 terrorists," said the statement.

According to forces, weapons, two trucks full of explosives and 500 kilograms of drugs were seized. Also a heroin-processing factory was destroyed by the troops.

No casualties on the joint forces were reported.

The Afghan defense ministry didn’t say whether the operation was carried out with NATO-led troops or US-led coalition forces.

Almost 60,000 international troops which are under a NATO-led force and a US-led coalition are working together with the Afghan forces in their battle against the Islamic Taliban.

The Taliban, who governed from 1996-2001, has been having a growing influence in the last two years with suicide attacks and roadside bombings.

Last year over 6,000 people were killed, including 220 international soldiers.

On Wednesday a British Royal Marine was killed by a bomb which blasted his patrol thus bringing the death toll of international soldiers at 10 this year.