The U.S.-led Coalition forces killed four armed militants and detained five suspected militants during an operation targeting the Taliban's roadside bomb network in Zabul province of southern Afghanistan, said a Coalition statement released on Sunday.

Coalition forces targeted a Taliban militant known to traffic weapons and coordinate roadside bomb attacks along Highway One in Qalat district of Zabul on Saturday, the statement said.

"During the operation, Coalition forces were engaged by multiple militants armed with AK-47s," it said. "The forces returned fire and killed four armed militants."

Spiraling conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency have claimed lives of more than 5,000 people, mostly militants, so far this year, despite over 70,000-strong international troops stationed in strife-torn Afghanistan.