A French woman (29) working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been shot dead in the Afghan town of Ghazni after two men on a motorcycle opened fire on her vehicle with a pistol.
Ms Bettina Goislard's death was the first among UN international staff in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban to US-led forces two years ago.
Local authorities in the town to the southwest of the capital Kabul have arrested two gunmen and said they believed the killers were rebels from the ousted Taliban regime, which has staged a comeback in parts of the country in recent months.
Afghanistan's foreign ministry said the killers belonged to the "Taliban-Al Qaeda network" who "found refuge among their mentors along our eastern and southern borders", a reference to suspicion in Kabul that militants are launching attacks from Pakistan.
Afghanistan is building up for presidential elections scheduled for June 2004, but much of the country remains off-limits for aid workers concerned about a resurgent Taliban and local battles.
More than 350 people, including many rebels, have been killed in Afghan violence since early August, the worst bloodshed since the Taliban fled Kabul on November 13th, 2001.
The shooting came less than a week after a car bomb went off outside UN buildings in Kandahar, wounding three people and causing damage to property.