Kabul - Two policemen were killed in a roadside bomb in the southern city of Kandahar, while three other police officers were killed and seven others were presumably abducted by Taliban militants in western Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

In the latest attack, a bomb loaded on a parked bicycle was remotely detonated in Kandahar city, the capital for the province of the same name, when a police vehicle was passing by on Tuesday, said Zelmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

"The enemy attack killed two policemen and wounded one policeman and one civilian," he said, adding that the bomb was detonated by a remote control device and police forces were deployed to the area to track down the culprits.

Separately, suspected Taliban militants attacked a police post in Bala Mughab district of western Badghis province, close to the border with Turkmenistan, early Tuesday morning, killing three police officers and taking hostage seven others, Mohammad Ayoub Niazyar, provincial police chief, said.

"Seven policemen are missing. They were most probably abducted by the attackers," he said, adding that a rescue operation conducted by dozens of police was ongoing in the area to free the hostages.

The poorly trained Afghan police bear the brunt of Taliban-led attacks in Afghanistan. Compared to Afghan army soldiers or international troops, Afghan police are poorly equipped.

Taliban insurgents have steadily gained power in Afghanistan after their initial defeat following the US-led invasion in late 2001. The militants have vowed to continue their insurgency until the nearly 70,000 international troops deployed in the country are expelled and the Western-backed Afghan government is toppled. (dpa)