Kabul - Taliban fighters killed a Western female aid worker for "spreading Christianity" on Monday as she was going to her office in the western part of Kabul, officials said.

Gayle Williams, 34, who had dual British-South African citizenship and was working with Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises (SERVE) was killed while she walked to work in the Carte Say area of Kabul, police and the aid agency said.

The attackers, who were riding on a motorbike, fled the area after the shooting, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.

It was the first time in recent memory that a Western aid worker was murdered in Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack through its spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, who said the Islamic fundamentalist former rulers of Afghanistan killed the woman because she was preaching Christianity.

"She was under pursuit for a long time and finally was punished today," Mujahid said in a statement posted on a rebel website, adding that the perpetrators were able to escape.

A spokeswoman for the organization rejected the Taliban's claim and said SERVE only worked with Afghan disabled people and had no political or religious mission.

SERVE in a statement posted on its website described the slain aid worker as a person "who always loved the Afghans and was dedicated to serving those who are disabled."

The Taliban kidnapped 23 Christian South Korean aid workers on charges of preaching Christianity last year in the southern province of Ghazni The militants killed two hostages before releasing the rest.

Taliban militants, who were ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led military invasion, have carried out similar attacks in the southern province of Kandahar.

Assassins on motorbikes killed a senior policewoman and a government official in Kandahar city in the past month.

A tribal leader and his son who had served as a bodyguard for President Hamid Karzai also were killed by gunmen riding on a motorbike in Kandahar city last week.

Aid organizations have restricted their movements in the country because of increasing attacks not only by Taliban insurgents but also by criminal gangs on their personnel and food convoys.

Three Western female aid workers and their Afghan driver were killed in a Taliban attack outside Kabul in August. (dpa)