Militants to decide fate of Afghan three today

AFGHAN militants claiming to hold three UN hostages, including an Irish woman, said talks on demands including the release of Taliban prisoners had broken down yesterday.

They said they would decide today whether to kill the trio.

The group also claimed hostage Annetta Flanigan, from Co Armagh, was “seriously ill” because of the strain of her captivity, and that all three were sickened by a diet of little more than biscuits. “My friends have told me she is very frightened. She can’t speak smoothly,” Akbar Agha, the group’s leader, said in a satellite phonecall.