4 April 2014 Last updated at 08:54 ET
Associated Press journalists Anja Niedringhaus (left) and Kathy Gannon
Some 200,000 troops have been deployed across the country
Afghan policeman shoots dead AP reporter Niedringhaus
Associated Press journalists Anja Niedringhaus (left) and Kathy Gannon
Two journalists working for the Associated Press news agency have been shot by a police officer in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.
One of the women, Anja Niedringhaus, died in the attack. Her colleague, Kathy Gannon, is reported to be stable.
The attack took place in the town of Khost near the border with Pakistan.
It comes as Afghanistan intensifies security ahead of presidential elections on Saturday, in response to threats of violence by the Taliban.
The new president will succeed Hamid Karzai, who has been in power since the 2001 fall of the Taliban but is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.
The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Kabul says the run-up to this historic poll has already been the bloodiest, and fears of electoral fraud are pronounced.
Security presence
Photojournalist Niedringhaus, 48, was killed instantly in the attack, the news agency confirmed.
Veteran reporter Gannon, 60, was said to be receiving medical treatment after she was wounded in the attack.
They had been travelling with election workers delivering ballots in the Tanay district of Khost province.
An eyewitness said a police unit commander had opened fire on the journalists as they were waiting for their convoy to move inside a security compound.
The police officer behind the attack was taken into custody after surrendering to other police.
A spokesperson for the interior ministry told the BBC there would be a full investigation into the incident.
Sidiq Siddiq suggested it could have been a case of mistaken identity or a miscalculation on the part of the police officer responsible for security in the area.
He said the police had not been aware of the journalists' movements in the area.
The district lies on the border with Pakistan's Waziristan region, with the Pakistan-based Haqqani network strong and influential in the area.
A senior policeman told the BBC the road from the capital to the district was a dangerous one with the risk of roadside bombs and Haqqani network fighters.
Violence has increased in recent weeks, ahead of the election, and foreign reporters have been among the victims
- A senior AFP reporter, Sardar Ahmad, was killed alongside eight other people when Taliban gunmen attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on 21 March
- A journalist with Swedish and British nationality, Nils Horner, was shot dead in Kabul by gunmen on 11 March
Some 200,000 troops have been deployed across the country
The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent, David Loyn, says the election is being protected by the biggest military operation since the fall of the Taliban.
Nearly 200,000 troops have been deployed across the country to prevent attacks.
Rings of security have been set up around each polling centre, with the police at the centre and hundreds of troops on the outside.
Reporting restrictions are in place, limiting what can be broadcast about the candidates.
If nobody wins more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election will be necessary.
There are eight candidates for president, including former foreign ministers Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmai Rassoul, and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.
Correspondents say the election may give the US a new chance to repair relations with Kabul, which are moribund after more than 12 years of war and repeated rows between the White House and President Karzai.
Relations between the president and Washington plunged to new lows late last year when the Afghan leader refused to sign a bilateral security agreement that would allow up to 10,000 troops to stay in his country after the Nato combat mission ends this year.BBC
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