Five Afghan aid workers were killed and three injured when they came under attack by gunmen on a road northeast of Kabul on the eve of a visit by the US defence secretary.
Western aid workers said the Afghans killed in the attack yesterday belonged to a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) called the Serai Development Foundation, which is involved in rebuilding roads and providing clean water.
Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told a news briefing the ambush occurred between about 60 km east of Kabul.
He called the attackers "criminals and terrorists".
"These kind of people don't have any place in Afghanistan,"Mr Jalali said.
The killings came just hours before the arrival in Afghanistan of US Defense Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld, who was to discuss long-term security issues with US-led forces, international peacekeepers and President Hamid Karzai.