The Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Sunday said the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces will continue their operations in the coming winter as they have "inclusive plans" on hand for this purpose.

“This time, we will continue our winter operations with full force, but we cannot provide details of these operations due to security reasons. You will soon witness large-scale operations,” said MoD spokesman Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed.

In a fresh spate of violence, at least three civilians among them two children and a woman were killed, and four others wounded when battle broke out between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters in Paktika-Gardez Highway this week on Saturday.

The clash began after insurgents launched mortar attack on a convoy of Afghan forces in the area.

“Missiles were fired and then our loved ones lost their lives,” said a local resident, Khawjah.

“Three people were killed and two or three others were wounded,” said Hussain, a Paktia resident.

Reports from other provinces also indicate that fresh waves of violence have occurred in some other parts of the country.

According to local officials, foreign forces are also supporting the Afghan forces in the battles.

“Operations are ongoing. We have outlined inclusive plans for a major operation. Meanwhile, operations will be carried out in districts which have lost their main centers over the past three years,” Ghazni governor Wahidullah Kalimzai said.

“The Resolute Support Mission is fully supporting us. We also have their air support,” Ghazni Police Chief Rahmatullah Sediqqi said.

This comes as the level of violence has not dropped this winter like the previous years as the Taliban continue to attack Afghan forces in different parts of the country.

The two sides have claimed that they had inflicted major casualties to their opponents.

Local officials in Ghazni have said that the security forces conducted 36 operations in the province last month which were backed by the NATO’s Resolute Support forces.