Taliban militants on Wednesday released 12 of 19 South Korean captives they promised to free under a deal struck with the South Korean government to resolve a nearly six-week hostage crisis.
The deal, reached in direct talks on Tuesday between South Korean diplomats and the Taliban, was criticised by one Afghan government minister amid concerns it could embolden the insurgents at a time of rising violence in the country.
The hostages were released into the care of officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross at three separate locations in central Afghanistan, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene.
Meanwhile, US-led coalition and Afghan forces killed more than 100 suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, officials said.
The first group of three women were released in the village of Qala-e-Kazi. Several hours later, four women and one man were released in a desert close to Shah Baz. As dusk approached, four more hostages were freed on a main road about 30 miles from Ghazni, said the reporter, who witnessed all three handovers.
None of the freed hostages spoke to reporters.
The first three women freed arrived in Qala-E-Kazi in a single car, their heads covered with red and green shawls. Red Cross officials quickly took them to their vehicles before leaving for the office of the Afghan Red Crescent in Ghazni, witnesses said.
In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said the three, whom he identified as Ahn Hye-jin, Lee Jung-ran and Han Ji-young, did not appear to have any health problems.
To secure the release of the church workers, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. Seoul also said it would prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working in the country.
South Korea’s decision to hold face-to-face negotiations with the militants is in sharp contrast to the US government’s refusal to talk to the Taliban. An Afghan government minister criticised Seoul for the deal, saying it could embolden the Taliban.
