KABUL, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 Taliban militants have been killed in separate airstrikes in Afghanistan within the past 24 hours, command of Afghan special forces said Monday.

"Sixteen Taliban militants were killed following airstrikes in Uruzgan, Ghazni, Paktika and Faryab provinces," Afghan National Army Special Operations Corps said in a statement.

Two militants were wounded and three militants' motorcycles were destroyed by the sorties, the statement added.

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces remain in control of most of Afghanistan's population centers and all of 34 provincial capitals, but Taliban insurgents control large portions of rural areas, staging coordinated large-scale attacks against Afghan cities and districts since early April when the militant group launched a yearly rebel offensive.

The militant group has yet to respond to the report.?