KANDAHAR, March 4 Four Pakistani road construction workers and their Afghan colleague were shot dead on Thursday in the Afghan city of Kandahar, police said.

The workers were travelling to their construction site when two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on their minivan at about 7am, said Kandahar's deputy police chief, Mohammad Shah Faroqi. Five of the labourers were killed and one was wounded.

The Pakistanis worked for Saita Construction Co, a Japanese joint-venture with a contract to repair the road from Kandahar to Punjwai district, Mr Faroqi said.

Combined Afghan and international forces are planning an offensive later in the year to bring greater security to Kandahar, US officials have said.—Agencies

Saleem Shahid adds from Quetta Later, the Afghan authorities handed over the bodies of four Pakistanis killed in Kandahar to Pakistani officials at the Chaman border post.

The slain men were identified as Mohammad Khan (from Chakwal), Wazir Khan (Mainwali), Asghar Ali (Sialkot) and Mazhar Hussain (Poonch, Azad Kashmir).

The bodies were sent to their native towns in the evening.