Military force 'not ruled out' to free hostages

The United States is not ruling out military force to free South Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan, a senior State Department official said.

“All pressures need to be applied to the Taliban to get them to release these hostages,” Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said yesterday. “The goal is to get these people released unharmed, to get them released peacefully and safely.”