KANDAHAR: Six police officers were killed in two insurgent attacks in volatile southern Afghanistan, police said Tuesday.

In one attack, five policemen were killed when a bomb tore through their vehicle in Helmand province`s Khanishin district late Monday, deputy provincial police chief Kamaluddin Khan told AFP.

He blamed the bombing on Taliban insurgents who have been fighting the Western-backed government in Kabul since they were removed from power in the late 2001 US-led invasion.

Cheap and easy to make, improvised bombs are the Taliban`s choice weapon against Afghan and Western military targets.

The sixth police officer was killed when militants armed with rockets and machine guns attacked a police post in Helmand`s Musa Qala district, Khan said.

Afghan police have suffered more casualties in the nearly nine-year war than their better armed counterparts in the Afghan army and US-led coalition force.

There are close to 150,000 US and NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan.

BDST: 1251 HRS, August 10, 2010