Kabul, Afghanistan ? Afghan and U.S.-led forces killed 30 suspected militants and arrested at least 60 others during an offensive in a southern province, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Saturday.

The fighting occurred Friday in southern Helmand province, spokesman Gen. Mohammed Saher Azimi said. Afghan soldiers collected weapons in the area, including some lying in farm fields.

The offensive is the latest large-scale operation against Taliban rebels in volatile southern and eastern Afghanistan, coming a week before landmark legislative elections that rebels have vowed to disrupt. The militants have stepped up attacks across much of the country, leaving more than 1,200 people dead in the past six months.