Twenty armed insurgents have been detained in a series of military operations in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry said on Saturday morning.

"During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Army and NATO-led Coalition Forces launched five joint operations in Kandahar, Uruzgan, Helmand and Khost provinces detaining 20 armed insurgents," the Ministry said in a press release.

The ANP also discovered and confiscated five AK-47 guns, three pistols, two different types of weapons, 466 kg of hashish, 20 kg of explosive materials, one vehicle and one motorbike, it added.

The ANP also discovered and defused two anti-vehicle mines and one BM-1 rocket as a result of separate operations in Kandahar and Laghman provinces in the same period of time.

Afghan officials often use the word "insurgents" referring to Taliban. However, the insurgent group, who launched in May 2011 a rebel offensive against Afghan and NATO forces, has not to make comments yet.