LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, - Up to six Afghan Local Police (ALP) members were killed and one was wounded Wednesday morning when a bomb they were defusing went off in southern Afghan province of Helmand, a provincial government spokesman said. ?

"The ALP found an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or roadside bomb but as they were defusing the IED, the explosive detonated at around 7 am local time, killing six ALP policemen and injuring one," spokesman Ahmad Zarak told Xinhua.

He said the incident took place in Group-e-Shash area of Nad Ali district in western part of provincial capital Laghkar Gah which located 555 km south of Afghan capital of Kabul.

The NATO and US-funded ALP or community police was established in August 2010 to protect villages and districts around the insurgency-hit country where Afghan army and police have limited presence.

Taliban militants, who have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have often attacked Afghan and some 100,000 NATO- led forces with IEDs and roadside bombs but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians. ? ?

At least, three civilians and a policeman were killed and five others wounded in separate IED blasts across the country on Tuesday.