KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- Suspected Taliban militants gunned down six Afghan employees of a U.S.-funded anti-drug project in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the second fatal attack on project staff in two days, officials said.
The victims were driving to Kabul with the body of one of five men killed in Wednesday's attack when they were ambushed in Zabul province's Shahjoy district, said Naik Mohammed, a doctor at a hospital in Qalat, where the victims' bodies were taken.
Two of the six Afghans killed Thursday were employees of Chemonics International Inc., a Washington-based consulting firm, the company said. Five of the victims in Wednesday's attack also worked for Chemonics, a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The victims of Thursday's attack included two relatives of those killed Wednesday and two rental car drivers, Chemonics said in a statement.
"The victims of these attacks are not just the people killed but all Afghan citizens struggling to rebuild their country and their lives," said Chemonics president and CEO Ashraf Rizk.
The deadly shootings are part of a recent wave of attacks and kidnappings targeting foreigners in Afghanistan. On Monday, four armed men seized an Italian aid worker from her car in Kabul. Her fate is not known.
Afghan police and soldiers have been deployed to the location of Thursday's killing, said Ali Khail, the Zabul provincial government spokesman.
"The Taliban ambushed the vehicle," he said without giving evidence to back his claims.