KANDAHAR, April 8: Taliban militants on Sunday beheaded an Afghan reporter kidnapped last month with an Italian journalist, after the government refused to negotiate his release, a militant spokesman said.

“We killed Ajmal (Naqshbandi) because the government did not respond to our demands,” said Shohaabuddin Atal, spokesman for Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah.

Atal said the journalist was beheaded in Helmand’s Hazar Joft district and the Taliban leaders would decide whether to return his body to his relatives or not.

His claims could not be verified independently.

Another Taliban spokesman had earlier said that the militants had set the deadline for Naqshbandi’s execution on Monday unless the government agreed to release more jailed insurgents.—AFP