Korean hostages alive, Afghans warn of operation
AFGHANISTAN: The remaining South Korean hostages held in
Afghanistan are still alive, the Taliban said while the army warned
villagers to evacuate areas near where the insurgents are thought to be
holding them.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said all 21 hostages were
alive despite the expiry of a deadline after which he had warned the
kidnappers would start killing the captives unless the Afghan government
freed jailed insurgents.
“Yes, they are alive,” Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an
unknown location. “But the danger (of killing) them remains. It is
possible that they will be killed,” he said, without giving a time
frame.
The Afghan government has refused to give in to demands to free
Taliban prisoners, saying that would only encourage further abductions.
Twenty-three South Korean church volunteers were snatched from a bus on
the main road south from the capital Kabul as it travelled through
Ghazni province last month. Two male Koreans have since been killed by
the kidnappers after their demands were ignored.
The Defence Ministry said army helicopters had dropped leaflets in
several districts of Ghazni province warning residents to move to secure
areas to avoid civilian casualties during an operation to be launched in
the “coming weeks”.
But the ministry said it was a routine operation not linked with the
kidnapping. Both Afghan and foreign troops were stationed in the area, a
local official said.
Any rescue operation would be fraught with danger as the Taliban have
split the hostages into small groups and are holding them in several
locations in the mainly flat but lush region. The Taliban spokesman
again warned that any rescue bid would jeopardise the lives of the South
Koreans, 18 of them women.
He said Taliban fighters had not detected any rescue operation, but
had seen increased troop movements in the area. “No military operation
has yet begun,” said Yousuf.
“But our mujahideen have been noticing provocations since yesterday.”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was criticised in March after releasing a
group of Taliban prisoners in return for the freedom of an Italian
journalist. He later said he would not make any hostage deals with the
Taliban again.
The hostages’ desperate relatives, keeping an agonising vigil in
Seoul, appealed to the U.S. government to intervene. South Korean
lawmakers also made a joint appeal to Washington to act.
The Taliban spokesman said two women hostages were now seriously ill.
“The majority of the hostages are ill, but two females are seriously ill
and there is this possibility that they may die,” Yousuf said.
Ghazni, Thursday, Reuters
Asia summit calls to free hostages
PHILIPPINES: Asia’s annual security summit opened here
Thursday with a message of support for Seoul and a call for the 21 South
Korean hostages held by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan to be released.
Foreign ministers from nearly 30 countries extended their sympathy to
South Korea and the families of the hostages, and expressed “deepest
regret at what has happened,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto
Romulo said.
“We all wish that the remaining 21 hostages be returned to their
families as soon as possible,” he said in a statement to begin the
yearly ASEAN Regional Forum, where South Korean Foreign Minister Song
Min-Soon was in attendance.
Manila, Thursday, AFP |