By Agencies

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Five people have been killed in Afghanistan after armed men opened fire at a group of Pakistani construction workers on their way to work.

The interior ministry said four Pakistani nationals and one Afghan were killed in the attack on Thursday morning in the Panjwayi district in Kandahar province.

The ministry identified the attackers only as "terrorists" and said the labourers were attacked on their way to a building site operated by the SAITA road construction company.

"They were going to work when this incident took place. We are arranging transportation of their bodies back to Pakistan," Ajmal Farooqi, a company executive said.

He said SAITA employs around 1,000 Pakistanis in Afghanistan, working mainly on road construction projects funded by grants from Japan and Europe.

Noor Agha, a police official, said two attackers on a motorcycle opened fire at the labourers as they were waiting for transport to take them to the building site.

"The enemies of Afghanistan try to harm anyone who wants to work on reconstruction and development in this country," Agha said.

A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry said Pakistan had asked the Afghan authorities to investigate the incident and improve security for its nationals in the country.