The ambush took place in the Kobi area of Panjwayi district in Kandahar province.  This area has been a center for the Taliban-led insurgency since late 2001 in their efforts bring down the Western-backed Afghan government.  The ministry said the laborers were attacked at 7:30 am while on their way to work at a site by the SAITA road construction company.  In addition they identified the attacked only as “terrorists”.

The SAITA road construction company employs around 1,000 Pakistanis in Afghanistan.  These laborers work mainly on road construction projects funded by grants from Japan and Europe, said Ajmal Farooqi, a company executive, who confirmed the deaths of the four Pakistanis.  He said “They were going to work when this incident took place.  We are arranging transportation of their bodies back to Pakistan.”

Last August a truck bomb exploded in front of SAITA’s office in central Kandahar city during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, leaving 40 people dead and at least another 80 injured.  Though the recent attack bore resemblance of the Taliban, the militants did not claim responsibility, possibly because the dead did not include foreigners and were civilians.

A Taliban spokesman said he was unaware of the incident.  Yousuf Ahmadi, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location said “Our friends did not say anything about it, we don’t have information about the incident.”

A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said Pakistan had asked the Afghan authorities to investigate Thursday’s incident and improve security for its nationals in the country.  Pakistanis arouse particular suspicion in Afghanistan, where many accuse the country of harboring links with the Taliban.  Kandahar shares a border with Pakistan and was the spiritual capital for the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until their ouster in 2001.