KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Militancy and counter-militancy have left 26 fighters dead including 13 militants in Kandahar and Zabul provinces since Saturday morning, officials said.

At least five militants and three police constable were confirmed dead as clash erupted between government forces and the Taliban fighters in Band-e-Timor area of Miwand district in Kandahar province early Saturday and lasted for a while, provincial police chief Tawdin Khan has confirmed.

Several trenches of the militants have also been destroyed, the official asserted.

Similarly, the government stormed Taliban hideouts in Darazab area of Khakriz district, Kandahar province in the wee hours of Saturday, killing eight militants and injuring nine others, Tawdin Khan said.

The official also confirmed the death of a police personnel in the firefight.

In the meantime, the militants in a deadly insider attack on a checkpoint in Jald area of Shahr-e-Safa district in the neighboring Zabul province early Saturday killed nine police personnel on the spot, a member of provincial council, Ata Jan Haqbayan, has confirmed.

Taliban militants who have intensified activities against government interests in the war-battered country, in a statement sent to media outlets confirmed the attack against police in Shahr-e-Safa district and claimed that eight security personnel were killed and those who conducted the deadly offensive had joined the Taliban fighters.