Taleban representatives say they have agreed to release 19 South Korean hostages held captive in Afghanistan for more than a month. A South Korean presidential spokesman has confirmed that a deal for the release has been reached.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he is doing everything possible to free 21 South Koreans, many of them ailing, who have been held hostage by the Taleban for more than two weeks.

Afghan and South Korean officials, and the Taleban kidnappers of the 21 remaining South Korean hostages are still seeking a meeting place for negotiations to release the hostages.

Afghan officials say a suicide car bomber blew himself up near a convoy of foreign troops on the outskirts of Kabul, Tuesday, wounding at least three civilians and three foreign troops.

Afghan and international forces have initiated an attempt to rescue 23 South Korean hostages their pro-Taleban captors have threatened to kill within hours.

Afghan police say several violent incidents in the southern part of the country have killed three soldiers and seven Taleban militants.

Afghan officials say a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in southern Afghanistan has killed several civilians and Taleban militants. Local officials say dozens of people were killed or wounded, with Taleban militants among the dead, when airstrikes targeted militants in a village in southern Helmand province.

In the wake of a series of high-profile incidents in which U.S. and NATO attacks have killed Afghan civilians, a senior American officer with responsibility for both forces says allied procedures for avoiding civilian casualties are adequate. The officer blames the Taleban for putting the civilians in danger.

NATO says a landmine blast in eastern Afghanistan has killed one NATO solider and wounded four others. A statement says the bomb went off Thursday near a vehicle carrying NATO troops. The nationality of the troops was not given.

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan says more than 24 suspected Taleban militants and six civilians were killed in clashes and attacks in southern Afghanistan.

U.S. and Afghan forces in Eastern Afghanistan have killed at least six suspected insurgents. Violent attacks are on the rise throughout much of Afghanistan, including areas previously considered relatively secure.

The outgoing top U.S. official in Afghanistan, who has just completed his assignment there, says he thinks stability is still possible, despite ongoing violence linked to the resurgence of the Taleban and increased cultivation of opium poppies. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington.