A roadside bomb killed six policemen in western Afghanistan on Saturday, as they were patrolling on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, officials said.

A roadside bomb killed six policemen in western Afghanistan on Saturday, as they were patrolling on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, officials said.

The bomb tore through a police vehicle in Herat, a relatively peaceful province, provincial police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told AFP.

"A mine planted by the terrorists hit a police vehicle in Guzara district yesterday morning, leaving six policemen dead and three more wounded," Ahmadi said.  

The toll was confirmed by the provincial governor's spokesman Ehsanullah Hayat.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but roadside bombs have been the Taliban's weapon of choice in their war against foreign and Afghan security forces.

Civilians often fall victim to such attacks with almost 1,000 Afghan civilians killed during the first four months of the year, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.

The blast comes days after Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar issued a statement endorsing as "legitimate" a nascent negotiation with the Afghan government representatives aimed at ending the conflict.

Earlier in the month, neighboring Pakistan hosted the first face-to-face talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, reportedly supervised by US and Chinese representatives.