KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide blast rocked Afghanistan’s capital Saturday during a gunbattle with security forces, officials said, killing at least seven people a day after hopes for all-encompassing peace talks collapsed.

Police chief Gen. Sayed Mohammad Roshandil said the bomber blew himself up outside the Telecommunications Ministry, clearing the way for four gunmen to enter the building and the heavily guarded government compound in central Kabul.

Nasart Rahimi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said four civilians and three soldiers were killed during the attack. Eight civilians were wounded, he said.

Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, said the wounded people were evacuated to hospitals.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan and have previously claimed attacks in Kabul.

The Taliban denied involvement.

Rahimi said the security operation ended at the Ministry of Telecommunication “after all four attackers were shot and killed by Afghan security forces.”

The attack came a day after Afghan-to-Afghan peace talks in Qatar were canceled. It would have marked the first time that Taliban and Kabul government officials sat together to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan and a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, saying the enemies of Afghanistan, by targeting civil servants, are trying to create terror among the people.

Rahimi said as many as 2,700 government employees and civilians were rescued by security forces after being stuck in several government buildings including the central post office.

Police in Northern Ireland nab pair in journalist’s fatal shooting

LONDON — Police in Northern Ireland arrested two men Saturday in connection with the fatal shooting of a journalist during rioting in the city of Londonderry and warned of a “new breed” of terrorists threatening the peace.

The men were taken to Belfast for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said. The men have not been identified or charged.

Lyra McKee, 29, a rising star of investigative journalism, was shot and killed, police say probably by a stray bullet aimed at police, during the rioting. Police said the New IRA dissident group was most likely responsible and called it a “terrorist act.”

The use of a firearm apparently aimed at police marks an escalation in sporadic violence that continues to plague Northern Ireland 21 years after the Good Friday peace agreement was signed.

FBI: Member of civilian border group arrested in New Mexico

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Authorities said a New Mexico man belonging to an armed group that has detained Central American families near the U.S.-Mexico border was arrested Saturday on a criminal complaint accusing him of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

The FBI said it arrested Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, of Flora Vista, in Sunland Park. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said Hopkins was a member of the group that had stopped migrants.

FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said Hopkins was in custody but said no additional information would be released until after Hopkins has an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Las Cruces.

It's not known whether Hopkins has an attorney.

Yemeni fighting kills more than 85, injures dozens, officials say

SANAA, Yemen — Fighting in Yemen’s southern Dhale province between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 85 people, Yemeni officials said Saturday.

The officials said Houthi rebels recaptured the district of Damt and the surrounding area from forces allied with the internationally recognized government after more than a week of fighting. They say dozens have been wounded.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war pitting the Iran-backed Houthis against the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led coalition since March 2015.

The war has devastated impoverished Yemen, turning the Arab nation into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Worker hospitalized in tiger attack at Kansas zoo

TOPEKA, Kan. — A tiger mauled a zookeeper at the Topeka Zoo in northeastern Kansas. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the incident happened around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when a Sumatran tiger named Sanjiv attacked the worker in a secured, indoor space.

Topeka Zoo director Brendan Wiley said the zookeeper suffered lacerations and puncture wounds to her head, neck and back. She was alert when she was taken by ambulance to a hospital. The zookeeper’s name has not been released.

City spokeswoman Molly Hadfield said the zoo was open at the time of the attack, which was witnessed by some people. The zoo reopened 45 minutes after the attack.

Sanjiv came to the Topeka Zoo in 2017 from a zoo in Akron, Ohio. The Topeka Zoo has six tigers, two adults and four cubs.

Egyptians vote on changes to extend rule of el-Sissi to 2030

CAIRO — Egyptians cast their ballots Saturday on the first of three days of voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030 and broaden the military’s role.

Critics have blasted the proposed changes as another step toward an authoritarian government perhaps even more severe than that of former President Hosni Mubarak, whose nearly three decades of autocratic rule was ended by an uprising in 2011.

El-Sissi’s government has arrested thousands of people and rolled back freedoms won eight years ago.

Mahmoud el-Sherif, spokesman of the National Elections Authority, said more than 61 million people are eligible to vote. Results were expected within a week.

In Los Angeles: A man suspected of involvement in a mysterious dissident group’s February raid on North Korea’s Embassy in Madrid was arrested by U.S. authorities.

Christopher Ahn, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested and charged Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. The specific charges against Ahn were not clear.

Separately, on Thursday, federal agents raided the apartment of Adrian Hong, a leader of the Free Joseon group. Hong was not arrested.

Free Joseon, also known as the Cheollima Civil Defense group, styles itself as a government-in-exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family dynasty in North Korea.