A Taliban commander was killed in an explosion in western Herat province of Afghanistan along with four other Taliban insurgents.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the slain Taliban commander was identified as Taj Mohammad and fell prey to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by fellow militants.

According to a statement by MoD, the incident took place in Shindand district which is among the relatively volatile districts in Herat.

The statement further added that three Taliban insurgents were also wounded in the incident.

The Taliban militants group has not commented regarding the report so far.

Taliban insurgents and militants belonging to the other insurgent groups frequently use Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces but the ordinary civilians are often targeted in such attacks.

IEDs are considered as the main motive behind the growing casualties of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) besides contributing largely to civilian casualties.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in its latest report said the anti-government elements remain responsible for 60 percent of the civilian casualties with ground engagements continuing to cause the highest number of civilian casualties, followed by complex and suicide attacks and improved explosive devices (IEDs).