Two women among the 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban in mid-July were freed Monday on a rural roadside and then driven to a US base, the first significant breakthrough in a hostage drama now more than three weeks old.

The two women, who broke into tears after seeing the international Red Cross officials there to take custody of them, got out of a dark gray Toyota Corolla driven by an Afghan elder and into one of two waiting Red Cross SUVs. The women said nothing to reporters alerted to the handoff location five miles southeast of Ghazni city by a Taliban spokesman.

The women — who wore scarves on their heads, khaki trousers and a traditional Afghan shirt that hangs to the knees, were then driven to the US base in Ghazni city, where American soldiers searched them and then let them inside. Both carried bags with them.The South Korean government confirmed the release of the two hostages, and said they were under protection in a safe location. The government called for the other captives to also be freed.

“We urge the kidnappers to release our people,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong.
The women, who the Taliban have said are ill, were among church group volunteers kidnapped by militants on July 19.

The release is the first breakthrough in the hostage drama, which took a downturn in late July when two male captives were executed by gunfire.

The two women were brought to the arranged meeting point on the side of a road in rural Ghazni province by an Afghan named Haji Zahir, who also got into the Red Cross vehicle with the freed hostages.

Separately, a suicide bomber targeted a US-led coalition convoy in eastern Afghanistan.

The blast in Khost province killed the bomber, said Gen Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief.
In the south, Afghan police and army soldiers battled militants in Kandahar province’s Shohrawak district, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.

The joint Afghan forces thwarted a planned militant ambush at the district chief's compound, and the ensuing clash left nine militants dead, Saqib said.