Another Korean hostage killed, Taliban claim

CBC News

A purported Taliban spokesman claims that militants holding 22 South Koreans in Afghanistan have killed another hostage Monday.

The insurgents shot one of the male hostages at 6:30 p.m. local time and dumped his body in Ghazni province where the hostages were kidnapped 10 days ago, the CBC's Brooks Decillia reported. However, there is no independent confirmation of the information and no word of its validity from the Afghan authorities, Decillia said.

Earlier Monday, militants extended their deadline to Wednesday after again threatening to kill the hostages unless the government releases some Taliban fighters, according to a provincial governor.

The militants agreed to the two-day extension to allow time for additional negotiations over the Taliban prisoners' release, said Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province, where the Christian aid workers were abducted.

The extension came after purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi set and let two deadlines pass on Monday — the latest expiring at 4 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET) — without any word on the fate of the hostages.

The 18 women and four men have been under threat of execution in four previous deadlines announced and subsequently extended by Ahmadi.

Deputy Interior Minister Munir Mangal, who also heads a government team negotiating with the captors, told Reuters earlier the hostages are still alive.

"The talks and dialogue are going on to persuade the Taliban to release the hostages … and no incident has happened [to the hostages]," Mangal said.

Earlier Monday, Pathan said authorities talked to the Taliban after they set the Monday deadline and asked for two more days of talks.

"Fortunately, they did not reject our demand outright, but said that they need to talk to their leaders," Pathan said.

Ahmadi has said the militant group had provided a list of 23 insurgent prisoners it wants released by the deadline in exchange for the Koreans.

"We might kill one, we might kill two, we might kill four, or we might kill all of the hostages at once," Ahmadi told the Associated Press from an unknown location via satellite phone on Sunday. "It might be women, it might be men."

Held in small groups
The South Korean aid workers were abducted on July 19, taken from a bus in Ghazni province. Last Wednesday, the Taliban kidnappers shot and killed the group's leader, 42-year-old pastor Bae Hyung-kyu.

On Saturday, one of the hostages, using the mobile phone of a Taliban fighter, placed an emotional call to the Reuters news agency and described how their captors were constantly moving them and threatening to execute them.

The hostages are being held in small groups at different locations. There are reports that some of the hostages are sick.

On Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan officials tried to shame the Taliban into releasing the 18 female captives, an attempt to tap into a tradition of cultural hospitality and chivalry.

In his first comments since the hostages were abducted, Karzai criticized the Taliban's kidnapping of "foreign guests," especially women, as contrary to the tenets of Islam.

Karzai faced heavy criticism when he approved the release of five Taliban prisoners earlier this year to free an Italian journalist held hostage. He subsequently vowed not to repeat such a deal.

With files from the Associated Press