Taliban militants in Afghanistan today claimed they shot and killed one Korean hostage while a group of abductees was freed and taken to a US military base, officials said.

THREE UN workers, including Irish woman Annetta Flanigan, held hostage in Afghanistan for nearly four weeks were “abandoned” by their captors in Kabul, officials said yesterday.

UN aid worker Anetta Flanigan is preparing to fly home tonight after she and two other hostages were abandoned by their kidnappers.