Taliban reiterate threat to kill Korean hostages

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A purported Taliban spokesman reiterated Saturday that at least 20 South Korean and German hostages would be killed at midday unless those countries pull their troops out of Afghanistan. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, has said Seoul had until noon on Saturday to withdraw their 200 troops from Afghanistan; otherwise the South Korean hostages would be killed. On Saturday he said there had been no change in those demands. The provincial police chief in Ghazni province, where at least 15 South Korean women and three men were kidnapped on Thursday, said his forces were working "carefully" to not trigger any retaliatory killings by the Taliban. The Taliban is also believed to be holding two German hostages kidnapped earlier in the week.