Unknown gunmen shot and killed the secretary of Afghanistan's Supreme Court in Kabul on Saturday, police said.

"Atiqullah Raufi, the secretary of the Supreme Court, was on the way to office when unknown armed men opened fire and killed him on the spot this morning," Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told media.

The attack took place at 08:30 a.m. local time in the Diwan Begi area at the fifth precinct, he said, adding the attackers had escaped.