Two Afghan Air Force (AAF) pilots were assassinated by two armed men riding a motorcycle in Kabul’s PD15 on Monday morning, officials confirmed.

The two pilots were walking, while on their way to work, when the shooting took place.

Eyewitnesses said the pilots were gunned down by two armed men who were riding a motorcycle.

“When I got to them, the two bodies were (lying) here. One of them was dead and the other was injured,” Fardin, a Kabul resident said.

The badly wounded pilot died soon after at the scene of the shooting, residents in the area said.

One of the victims, Mahbobulhaq Safi, 28, had been married only two years and was the only breadwinner in his family.

“He was going to work at 6am when the enemy ambushed him. Mahbobulhaq and his colleague who was a commander of a battalion were killed,” the victim’s cousin Abdul Haq Safi said.

The Ministry of Defense said a team has been tasked to investigate the killing of the two pilots.

“Two officers have been targeted by armed men in the area where they live,” defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.

Meanwhile a number of political analysts and residents blasted government over security and said the assassination of the pilots in Kabul was of serious concern.

“Millions of AFs have been invested in every pilot to make them military pilots. Losing pilots will increase war costs for government,” political analyst Haroon Mir said.

“There is no government, if there was, they would not have been killed,” a Kabul resident Massoud said.

“Although there is a police check post near the scene of the incident, security forces arrived at the scene one hour later,” another Kabul resident Khan Mohammad said.