The blast struck a police vehicle in Badghis province, killing two officers, and also killed eight civilians from the same family. - File Photo

HERAT: Ten people were killed by a roadside bomb in northwest Afghanistan late Monday, a local politician told AFP Tuesday.

The blast struck a police vehicle in Badghis province, killing two officers, and also killed eight civilians from the same family in another vehicle which was following it, said Badghis provincial council chairman Faizullah Azimi.

“A mine planted by the Taliban hit a police vehicle in Qadis district yesterday evening leaving two policemen and eight civilians dead,” Azimi told AFP.

“All the civilians were members of the same family.” He added: “Two policemen and one child were also injured.”

Monday was the second day of the Muslim holiday Eidul Azha, when many Afghans celebrate by visiting friends and family.

It was not the first attack during Eid in Afghanistan - on Sunday, a Taliban suicide bomber killed seven people returning from prayers at a mosque in the city of Baghlan, northern Afghanistan.

The Taliban's spokesman was not immediately reachable to comment on the latest attack.

It came days after Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar urged his fighters to avoid civilian casualties in the decade-long Afghan war.

On Friday, the Taliban published a statement on their website attributed to Mullah Omar, calling on fighters “to take every step to protect the lives and wealth of ordinary people”.

The statement, issued to mark Eidul Azha, warned of punishments under Islamic Sharia law for fighters responsible for civilian deaths.

The United Nations says the number of civilians killed in the Afghan war in the first half of this year rose 15 per cent to 1,462, with insurgents behind 80 per cent of the deaths.

Around 140,000 international troops are serving in Afghanistan, mostly from the United States, helping Afghan government forces fight a bloody, Taliban-led insurgency.

Limited withdrawals of foreign troops have already started, and all combat forces are due to leave by the end of 2014, although a sizeable training and mentoring mission is expected to remain.