Deadline plea for Koreans held in Afghanistan

An Afghan governor today pleaded with the Taliban to extend a deadline for the lives of 22 South Koreans after militants warned the Afghan government to release some of its captured fighters or else hostages would die.

Marajudin Pathan, governor of Ghazni province where the South Koreans went missing on July 19, said authorities talked to the Taliban after they set today’s deadline and asked for two more days of talks.