Two Britons helping with upcoming Afghan elections and their interpreter were killed by unidentified attackers in north-eastern Afghanistan, a government official and Western diplomat told AFP Wednesday.
Interior ministry spokesman Litfula Mashal said the three were killed in the remote mountainous province of Nuristan, bordering Pakistan, in an incident the United Nations said was a setback to the country's fragile vote preparations.
"Three people working for the British security firm Global Risk were killed by unidentified armed men in the Mandol district," Mashal said.
"Their bodies were discovered this morning in the village of Mandol by troops from the 28th division in Nuristan," he said.
"We still don't know the nationality of the two expatriates and the exact circumstances of their killing," he said.
A Western diplomat and an official from a humanitarian organisation, who both wished to remain anonymous, told AFP the foreigners were British.
One of the two victims held dual British-Zimbabwean nationality, according to the humanitarian official. The British embassy did not wish to comment on the incident or the nationality of the victims.
An official for Global Risk, which employs mainly British expatriate staff in Afghanistan, also refused to comment.