Gunmen in western Afghanistan have shot and killed two Finnish women working for a medical charity in the city of Herat.
The women, members of the Christian group known as the International Assistance Mission, were shot by two men on a motorbike as they were riding in a taxi.
The gunmen fled and have not been identified.
The Herat Provincial Health Department said the victims died while being taken to a hospital.
"Two IAM staffers in the Herat regional office were targeted by unknown gunmen while they were out shopping in a market. Unfortunately they died on the way to the hospital," said Mohammad Rafiq Shirzai of the Provincial Health Department.
The aid group IAM has worked in Afghanistan since the 1960s, and it has been a target for militants in the past. The Taliban claimed responsibility for killing eight foreign medics in northern Afghanistan in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban said its targets were "missionaries."
In Helsinki Thursday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto demanded justice and accountability for the women's deaths. Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said the security situation in Afghanistan should be re-assessed.
