Kabul, June 15 (IANS): At least 49 improvised bombs were defused by the Afghan army in two southern provinces of Afghanistan, a military statement said on Wednesday.

"The army defused 49 improvised explosive devices in Zabul and Uruzgan provinces over the past 24 hours," Xinhua news agenncy quoted the statement as saying.

"A terrorist named Mir Kalam was also detained during the raids," it said.

The statement blamed enemies of peace, a term referring to the Taliban militants, for planting the IEDs along main roads.

The Taliban militant group has been using IEDs as also lethal weapons to target security forces and also to inflict casualties on civilians, said military officials.

More than 3,540 civilians were killed and over 7,450 injured in 2015 as the violence spreads in different places of the country, according to a report released by UN mission in Afghanistan.

Of the casualties, 713 civilians were killed and more than 1,650 injured by IED attacks last year, the UN report found.