Airstrikes and clashes in southern Afghanistan killed more than 75 militants, as a threatened deadline for the lives of 23 South Korean hostages being held by Taliban militants passed with no resolution.

KOREAN negotiators, accompanied by Afghan elders and clerics, met face-to-face with the kidnappers of 23 South Koreans yesterday as a threatened Taliban deadline to execute them passed by once again.

Taliban militants have seized control of a district in Afghanistan’s volatile south after an hours-long clash that killed five people, including the local police chief and the political leader.