KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) — Fighting in militancy-plagued Afghanistan has claimed 19 lives including seven civilians over the past two days, officials said Sunday.

In the latest violent incident, three people including two police constables and a civilian lost their lives as a bomb went off in the former Taliban stronghold of Helmand province on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

“A bomb planted by militants went off in Bolan area in the outskirt of provincial capital Lashkar Gah at around 01:00 p.m. local time Sunday, killing two police and a civilian,” spokesman Shah Mahmoud Ashna told Xinhua.

The blast occurred when a police team was in routine patrol, he added.

Ashna blamed Taliban militants for organizing the blast.

In another violent incident, unknown armed militants attacked a house in Nari district of eastern Kunar province late Saturday night, killing six civilians and injuring another, all members of same family.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry reported on Sunday the killing 10 armed militants in different provinces of the conflict-hit country over the past 24 hours.

“Units of national security forces conducted several anti-terror operations in Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, Khost, Ghazni, Herat, Zabul and Helmand provinces over the past 24 hours, and as a result, 10 armed insurgents have been killed, eight wounded and six others made captive,” the ministry said in a statement.

During the operations, a good quantity of arms and ammunitions including explosive materials have also been found, said the statement which provides daily operational updates.

Bu the ministry did not mention possible casualties inflicted on the government security forces.