Afghan police say they have recovered the body of a South Korean hostage killed by Taliban militants in southeastern Afghanistan.
The bullet-riddled body was found Wednesday in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province. The hostage was one of 23 South Koreans, including 18 women, kidnapped by the Taliban last week.
An Afghan police official says militants shot the Korean because the hostage was sick and could not walk.
A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, says the kidnappers will kill the remaining hostages by 1 a.m. local time Thursday (2030 UTC Wednesday) if Afghan authorities do not release Taliban prisoners.
The militant group says it has lost patience after several days of negotiations with tribal elders representing Afghan and South Korean officials.
The head of the Afghan negotiating team Waheedullah Mujadadi says the Taleban tried to kidnap him today, but he managed to escape.
There also are conflicting reports about whether the Taliban has released some of the South Koreans.
And in another development, the governor of Kunar province Dedar Shalezai says militants freed a foreign journalist and his Afghan translator today after seizing the pair early this morning in the eastern region. - VOA News
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