KABUL, Nov 16: A 29-year-old French woman working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was shot dead on Sunday in the Afghan town of Ghazni when two men on a motorcycle opened fire on her vehicle with a pistol.

Her death was the first among UN international staff in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban to US-led forces two years ago. Local authorities in the town to the southwest of the capital Kabul have arrested two gunmen and said they believed the killers were rebels from the ousted Taliban regime which has staged a comeback in parts of the country in recent months.

“Two unknown gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on the car of the UNHCR which fatally wounded the international staffer of the UNHCR...at midday today,” UN spokesman David Singh said.

Bettina Goislard, a French national, had been in Ghazni since June 2002, having worked for the UNHCR in Rwanda and Guinea. She was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital.—AFP