Taleban fighters have agreed to release 19 South Korean hostages held for more than five weeks in Afghanistan, the South Korean president’s office says.
Spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said the agreement was reached on condition that Seoul withdrew its troops as scheduled from Afghanistan by the year’s end.
The Taleban kidnapped 23 South Korean Christian charity workers from Ghazni province on 19 July.
They subsequently killed two male hostages, and released two women.
AFP news agency reported an Afghan tribal chief as saying that the hostages would be freed “in three or four days”. — from the BBC
This is great news. Pray that this agreement will stand and that these Korean Christians will be released soon.
Thanks to AllThings2All for alerting me to this new development.
Update
Taleban rebels in Afghanistan have released 12 South Koreans — 10 women and two men — out of a group of 19 hostages that they have been holding.
The hostages have been released in three groups throughout the day. They are said to be in good health. — from the BBC
AllThings2All has more.
I hate being a pessimist, but I’m not going to believe it until every last one of them is free and on neutral soil. THEN I’ll rejoice.