Four Pakistani nationals and an Afghan labourer have been shot dead Thursday in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar The workers were travelling to their construction site when three gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on their minivan, the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that at least two others, one of them Pakistani national, have been wounded in the gunfire.
The Pakistani construction workers were employed with Saita Construction Company, a Japanese joint-venture with a contract to repair the road from Kandahar to Punjwai district.
No groups, including the Taliban, have made an immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
The Pakistani deaths come days after nine Indians were killed in a string of explosions and gunfire in the capital Kabul.
The Afghan intelligence agency blamed a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba -- linked to Pakistani army -- for the attack, a claim Pakistan dismissed.