Three Afghan police were killed as a landmine struck their vehicle in the restive Helmand province, provincial spokesman Hajji Mohiudin Khan said Monday.

"The incident took place in Marja district Sunday afternoon when the enemies of Afghanistan detonated a mine by remote control killing the all three occupants of a police car," Khan told Xinhua.

Meantime, Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi accepted responsibility and adding militants loyal to the former fundamentalist regime targeted the police van killing all on board.

A similar roadside bomb attack on a police van in Nawbahar district of Zabul province Sunday destroyed the van but left no casualties, district commissioner of Nawbahar Hajji Zarif said.

Helmand, Zabul, Kandahar and Uruzgan commonly known as the heartland of Taliban have been the scene of increasing insurgency since last year. Taliban's activities claimed the life of one British soldier and wounded three others in Helmand on Sunday.

More than 1,800 people mostly militants have been killed in Taliban-linked insurgency since beginning this year in the post- Taliban Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua