Six members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP), including their commander, were killed and another injured in a roadside bombing in the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Wednesday, officials said.
The incident took place at around 7am in the Loy Bagh area of the district, where a vehicle carrying the police and their commander struck a roadside bomb, the administrative head of the district, Eng. Mohammad Ibrahim, told Afghan media.
Ibrahim identified the police commander as Agha Mohammad, who had led the NATO-funded local police force in the area for the past two years.
Composed of local villagers, the 16,000-strong APL operates in areas of the country where the national police and army are not deployed.
Last month the US announced it was temporarily suspending training the ALP following an increase in the so-called “insider attacks”.