KABUL: A roadside bomb killed six policemen in western Afghanistan on Saturday, as they were patrolling on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, officials said. The bomb tore through a police vehicle in Herat, a relatively peaceful province, provincial police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told AFP. “A mine planted by the terrorists hit a police vehicle in Guzara district yesterday morning, leaving six policeman dead and three more wounded,” Ahmadi said. The toll was confirmed by the provincial governor’s spokesman Ehsanullah Hayat. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but roadside bombs have been the Taliban’s weapon of choice in their war against foreign and Afghan security forces. The blast comes days after Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar issued a statement endorsing as “legitimate” a nascent negotiation with the Afghan government representatives aimed at ending the conflict.

Journalist executed

BAGHDAD: The Islamic State group has executed an Iraqi journalist in the northern city of Mosul on charges of spying, local officials and colleagues said Saturday. Jala al-Abadi was taken from his home with his phone and laptop on June 4 and executed on Wednesday by firing squad after being sentenced by an IS court. A former senior security officer in the area and a medical source in Mosul confirmed the young journalist’s death. The father of two was born in 1988 and had worked as a cameraman for a local channel before IS took over Iraq’s second city in June 2014. He left his city then but, according to someone who was close to the journalist, he returned to Mosul for personal reasons. He did not elaborate. Abadi was arrested when he tried to leave again and charged by the Islamic State with “leaking information” about the jihadist group to the national press.