Kabul, Sep 10 (IANS): Units of police backed by the army have rooted out militants in Chardara district in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province after a month-long clean up operations, provincial police chief Ghulam Mustafa Mohsini said Wednesday.

"Chardara district has been cleaned of insurgents and normalcy has returned there after the troops killed 211 rebels during the month-long operation," Mohsini told reporters.

Chardara and adjoining districts of Imam Sahib, Dasht-e-Archi and Khanabad have been the scene of heavy fighting between the government forces and Taliban militants over the past one month during which hundreds of families left their homes for safer places.

The provincial police chief also said that the displaced people can return to their homes free of any security concerns, Xinhua reported.

However, he avoided commenting on the casualties among security personnel during the operations. The police also announced the end of operations in Chardara district.

Meanwhile, a day earlier, an army commander in Kunduz, Gen. Jan Allah Safi, in talks with reporters in Chardara district said that "24 security personnel had been killed and injured" during the month-long crackdown on the armed militants.

He also stressed that major parts of Dasht-e-Arch and Imam Sahib districts had also been cleaned of insurgents.

Kunduz has been the scene of Taliban-led militancy over the past couple of years.