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.

“Fortunately, they did not reject our demand outright, but said that they need to talk to their leaders,” Pathan said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the militant group had given a list of 23 insurgent prisoners it wanted released and if they weren’t freed by noon today, some hostages would be killed.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban on Pathan’s extension demand.

Last week the Taliban set several deadlines that passed without consequence, and it wasn’t clear how seriously the militants would treat their latest ultimatum for the 22 remaining South Korean hostages, including 18 women.

A leader of the group was shot and killed on Wednesday, but it was unclear why.