Violence in Afghanistan took more lives Wednesday. This time, an American and two other women working for humanitarian and relief causes were the victims.

An American aid worker along with a British-Canadian and a Trinidadian colleague working for the New York-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) died after five gunmen with assault rifles stepped out of a small village area and fired at their vehicle, which was traveling on the main road, the Associated Press reports. The report also said the vehicle was left riddled with hundreds of bullet holes.

The three women were attacked in Logar, one province south of Kabul, as they traveled from the eastern city of Gardez to Kabul, said Abdullah Khan, the deputy counterterrorism director in Logar. The Afghan driver was also killed. Khan said the white IRC SUV was hit with hundreds of bullets. CNN reported Wednesday morning that the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The IRC, which dates back to 1933 and has connections with Albert Einstein, works to provide emergency relief, rehabilitation, protection of human rights and post-conflict development in countries around the world.

Two Afghan IRC staff members were shot and killed in Logar in July 2007 while driving to work on a government-led program that carries out development projects.

At least 19 aid workers in Afghanistan have been killed in militant attacks in 2008, compared with 15 killed in all of 2007, according to a recent security group report. That report said 2008 was on track to be the deadliest year for humanitarian workers in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban.

Reuters reports that Wednesday’s attack was the single bloodiest involving foreign aid workers in recent years in Afghanistan.