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Taliban threatens to kill 18 abducted S. Koreans

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 21, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban militants threatened Friday to kill at least 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians, including 15 women, within 24 hours unless the Asian nation withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan.

Several dozen fighters kidnapped the South Koreans at gunpoint from a bus in Ghazni province on Thursday, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai, the provincial police chief.

"They have got until tomorrow (Saturday) at noon to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, or otherwise we will kill the 18 Koreans," Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told the Associated Press.

Outmatched by foreign troops, the Taliban often resorts to kidnapping civilians traveling, particularly in the country's south, where the insurgency is raging. The tactic hurts President Hamid Karzai's government by discouraging foreigners involved in reconstruction projects from venturing into remote areas.

The abductions came a day after two Germans and five Afghan colleagues working on a dam project were kidnapped in the central Wardak province.

Ahmadi said the Taliban was also holding the two Germans and threatened to kill them if Germany did not withdraw its 3,000 troops from a NATO-led force by noon Saturday, the same deadline as South Korea.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the statement by the "so-called spokesman" of the Taliban, but it contradicted a statement from the previous day that the Taliban was not holding the Germans.

South Korea has about 200 troops serving with an 8,000-strong U.S.-led force, which is separate from the 40,000-member NATO-led force.

It was unclear what the Koreans were doing in Afghanistan.

[Last modified July 20, 2007, 23:15:33]