GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) -- At least 23 people including two police officers were killed in clashes as fresh violence swept insurgency-hit Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

Eight Taleban militants and two policemen were killed in fighting which erupted late Monday in the southern province of Ghazni where the Taliban have been holding 19 South Korean aid workers hostage for the past month, police said.
The fighting in the province's Qara Bagh -- where the Korean aid workers were kidnapped on July 19 -- and Ander districts was still ongoing Tuesday, provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai told AFP.
Two other police were seriously wounded, he said.
Elsewhere in Ghazni, two Afghan civilians were killed and two injured when a landmine apparently intended for the security forces went off under their vehicle on Tuesday, Ahmadzai said.
""The Taliban had planted the mine, aimed at us,"" the police commander said.
In separate clashes between Taliban and security forces, seven militants were killed in an operation by Afghan and coalition forces in neighboring Helmand Province Monday, the defense ministry said in a statement.
""Seven terrorists who had infiltrated the area to destabilize the area were killed during an operation by Afghan and coalition forces,"" the statement said, referring to a 10,000-strong US-led force based in the province.
The operation took place in Helmand's troubled Sangin district, which has been badly hit by the insurgency