TALUQAN, Afghanistan, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least two soldiers were killed and one other injured in a Taliban insurgents' ambush attack in Takhar province, north of Afghanistan on Thursday, local police said.

"The incident took place during a joint military operation in Darqad district Thursday morning when Taliban attacked military vehicles, resulting a clash that left a policeman and an army soldier dead, and a soldier was also injured," provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir told Xinhua.

The ongoing military operation will continue before the whole district is cleared of militants, he said.

Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in the south and east to the once peaceful region in the north, where Taliban have been recruiting from among the youth.

Several militants have been killed and militants' hideouts together with weapons and ammunition have been destroyed in northern Afghan region as Afghan warplanes and U.S.-led coalition's B-52 massive bomber pounded different places there within past week.