Kabul, April 19 (IANS): Six Taliban insurgents were killed Saturday in a blast in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni, police said.

"A local Taliban leader named Mullah Saddiq, along with five militants, was killed after improvised explosive devices (IEDs) they were building went off prematurely in Khoshak locality of the provincial capital Ghazni city in the morning," Xinhua Saturday quoted Asadullah Insafi, deputy provincial police chief, as saying.

The killed militants planned to use the IEDs to target security forces.

No civilian was hurt in the incident.

Meanwhile, two militants were killed and six wounded in the country's northern Sari Pul province during a military operation conducted by the army earlier Saturday.

The security forces have recently intensified operations across the country as spring and summer - known as the fighting season - is drawing near, the report said.

The Taliban insurgent group did not comment on the incident.