ISLAMABAD , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Pakistan 's military killed at least 55 militants over the past 24 hours as part of its week-long crackdown on Taliban militants , an army spokesman said Friday . Pakistani security personnel patrol the troubled Buner district . This week 's military operation resulted in more than 230 militant casualties since Sunday , while the military suffered two deaths and eight injuries , according to spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas . He has said he hopes the operation will be completed by the end of the week . The operation is part of the Pakistani army 's intensified drive against the Taliban in its restive tribal regions . The Pakistani government has been criticized for not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan . As a result , the U.S. military has carried out airstrikes against militant targets in Pakistan , which have rankled relations between the two countries . Meanwhile , Afghan and coalition forces in southern Afghanistan killed 15 militants and wounded 12 others , the U.S. military reported . The incident , which took place early Friday morning in the Arghandab District of Zabul province , occurred after a military convoy was attacked . `` The patrol was en route to a local village to talk with elders about security issues in the area when they were attacked by several armed militants with small-arms fire from a compound . The combined force returned fire killing one militant , '' the military said in a statement . As Afghan security forces secured and searched that and other compounds to make sure there `` were no non-combatants in danger , '' militants shot at troops and the soldiers fired backed . The Afghan and coalition forces pursued the militants into a `` nearby cave complex '' where 14 militants were killed and 12 were wounded . Another militant was detained .
Pakistan military says at least 55 Taliban militants killed in last 24 hours . The Pakistani army has been fighting the insurgents since late 2008 and is now trying to push them out of major cities such as Karachi and Peshawar. Afghan , coalition forces in Afghanistan kill 15 militants , wound 12 others .