KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hardline militia killed a second South Korean hostage Monday because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents. Afghan officials said they hadn’t recovered a body and couldn’t confirm the claim.
Militant spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill the male captive because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade 23 prisoners for the Christian aid volunteers.
The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Koreans riding on a bus through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway on July 19. The Taliban has set several deadlines for the Koreans’ lives. On Wednesday the insurgents killed their first hostage, a male leader of the group.
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