Taliban-led insurgency and conflicts in war-torn Afghanistan have claimed lives of 596 people including 350 militants, 173 civilians and 73 policemen in the first month of Afghan calendar falling from March 21 till April 20, spokesman of Interior Ministry Zamarai Bashari said Sunday.

"There were some 500 terrorist and security incidents in the first month of new Afghan year, an increase of 30 percent over the same period last year," Bashari told a weekly press briefing here.

Majority of the incidents took place in southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Ghazni as well as eastern Khost province where Taliban militants are active.

According to Bashari, 255 more Taliban insurgents were arrested while 350 Afghan civilians, 150 police and 94 militants were wounded over the same period.

Bashari stressed that police defused some 800 roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by militants around the country.

"Some 11,317 kg of narcotics and 7,345 kg of chemical substance used in manufacturing heroin were destroyed by special counter- narcotic police over the period," he said, adding 144 suspected drug smugglers were arrested during the anti-drug operations.