GHAZNI: Two civilians among 10 people have been killed in attacks in southern Afghanistan, police said on Sunday.

The civilians died on Saturday when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in the southern province of Helmand, a hotbed of Taliban insurgency, a police commander said.

Helmand police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said the bomb was laid by the Taliban to target Afghan and Western security forces.

“It was the work of the Taliban and was aimed at our and foreign troops,” he said, referring to the tens of thousands of Nato- and US-led troops based in Afghanistan to hunt down Taliban insurgents.

Also Saturday, Taliban militants used rockets to ambush an Afghan private security company vehicle, killing six guards and two police officers in southern Wardak province, close to Kabul, police said.

Wardak police chief Muzafaruddin said that reinforcements sent to the area pushed back the Taliban ambush, wounding four rebels, but two officers were killed. Muzafaruddin, like most Afghans, goes by only one name.

“In total six guards and two policemen were killed. Our police officers were killed when they were sent to help the guards,” he added.—AFP