KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 22 July 2007 — A purported Taleban spokesman said the militia killed two German and five Afghan hostages yesterday but was willing to release 23 South Korean Christians in exchange for the freedom of imprisoned Taleban fighters.
The Afghan government, however, said it had contradictory information concerning the Germans, casting doubt on the purported spokesman’s claims.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to be a Taleban spokesman, said the Afghan and South Korean governments had until 7 p.m. today (1430 GMT Sunday) to agree to the release of 23 Taleban militants or the Korean hostages would be killed.
He said the Germans and Afghans were shot dead because Germany did not announce the withdrawal of its 3,000 troops from Afghanistan. The seven were kidnapped Wednesday in the southern province of Wardak while working on a dam project.
“The German and Afghan governments didn’t meet our conditions,” Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. Ahmadi offered no proof of the killings and said the Taleban would give information about the bodies later.
The Afghan government, however, said one of the Germans died of a heart attack and the second was still alive. “The information that we and our security forces have is that one of these two who were kidnapped died of a heart attack,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said. “The second hostage is alive and we hope that he will be released soon and we are trying our best to get him released.”
Ahmadi earlier said the militants were holding 23 Koreans, up from the 18 he earlier claimed. He said several Koreans spoke the Afghan languages Dari and Pashto and had been mistaken for Afghans.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun urged the Taleban to “send our people home quickly and safely.”
Roh also spoke with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and asked for cooperation to quickly win the release of the South Koreans, Roh’s office said.
Ahmadi warned the Afghan government and US and NATO forces not to try to rescue the hostages, or they would be killed.
The provincial police chief in Ghazni province said his forces were working “carefully” so as not to trigger any retaliatory killings. “We have surrounded the area but are working very carefully. We don’t want them to be killed,” said Ali Shah Ahmadzai.
