KABUL (ABP) — A second Christian hostage from South Korea has been killed by Taliban fighters, the Associated Press reported July 31.
Twenty-one of the 23 South Koreans abducted July 19 remain hostages after police found the body of Shim Sung-min, 29, on the side of an Afghan road.
A Taliban spokesman said the killing of the Christian social worker was due to the Afghan government's failure to meet a deadline, the AP reported. The deadline was for the release of Taliban insurgents in exchange for the relief workers.
The spokesman, identified as Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said Taliban captors will kill more hostages if the Afghan government does not meet the requirements of a new Aug. 1 deadline.
“If the Kabul government does not release the Taliban prisoners, then we will kill after 12 o'clock. We are going to kill Korean hostages,” Ahmadi said by phone, according to reports. “It might be a man or a woman. It might be one. It might be two, four. It might be all of them.”
According to the Asia Sentinel, Bae Hyung-kyu, the Christian group's leader, was the first hostage found dead near a highway on July 25. Bae was the pastor of Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, South Korea. All the hostages belonged to the church, according to the Sentinel. Church leaders told the Sentinel its members weren't doing religious work but instead were providing social services and aiding in relief efforts in Afghanistan.
Baek Jong-chun, South Korea's chief presidential secretary for security affairs, told reporters the kidnappers “will be held accountable for taking the life of a Korean citizen.” Baek traveled to Afghanistan July 26 to work for a release of the hostages.
Unlike Western government officials, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has shown a willingness to bargain with terrorists. Karzai recently approved a deal that released five Taliban captives in exchange for Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Karzai has responded to criticisms from governments in the United States and Europe by calling the trade a one-time deal.
According to the AP, Karzai and other Afghan officials tried to shame the Taliban into releasing the women hostages by calling the kidnapping of women “un-Islamic.”
South Korean officials estimate that 16 of the 21 captives left are women.
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