GHAZNI, Afghanistan, 31 July 2007 — Afghanistan’s Taleban militia said they shot dead late yesterday a South Korean hostage, among 23 captured two weeks ago, after its deadlines expired for the government to free prisoners.
“We set several deadlines and the Afghan government did not pay attention to our deadlines,” spokesman Yousef Ahmadi told AFP. “Finally tonight at 8.30 we killed one of the Koreans named Sung Sin with AK-47 gunshots.” The body of the hostage had been dumped in the Qarabagh district of the southern province of Ghazni, Ahmadi said. He did not specify the gender of the captive but his use of the Pashtu language suggested a man was killed.
The area is where 23 South Korean Christians, 16 of them women, were captured on July 19 while officially on an aid mission. The Taleban threatened on Sunday to start killing them yesterday if their demand was ignored.
The leader of the Koreans, a 42-year-old pastor, was shot dead on Wednesday last week and his bullet-riddled body found in a desert area of the province.
There was no independent confirmation of the latest killing, but Afghan officials said they were pursuing unconfirmed intelligence reports that two of the hostages were dead.
