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GHAZNI, Afghanistan : Twenty-one South Koreans captured by Afghanistan's Taliban began a third week of captivity on Thursday, most of them said to be ill, with Seoul pushing Washington and Islamabad to help free them.
The hardline militia, which has shot dead two of the group of aid workers and threatened to kill more, meanwhile said on Thursday it had been "assured" by South Korean officials that captured Taliban fighters would be released.
This has been the key demand of the extremists, which seized the aid workers on July 19.
It could however not be confirmed by the Afghan government which has so far refused to release Taliban fighters, wary of encouraging kidnapping, and after heavy criticism from the United States over a similar deal in March.
"We have had indirect contacts via telephone with the some of the South Korean delegation, including the South Korean ambassador," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP.
"The Korean delegation has assured us that they have spoken to the Americans and the Korean hostages will be freed in exchange with Taliban prisoners."
He had earlier accused the United States, Afghanistan's main ally, of preventing Kabul from freeing militants in jail.
Eight senior South Korean legislators travelled to Washington on Thursday to enlist US support while Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon met US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in Manila for talks on the dragging crisis.
A South Korean presidential envoy, Baek Jong-chun, meanwhile met with a senior Pakistani minister and a pro-Taliban opposition leader in Islamabad to plead for help in securing the release of the hostages.
Amnesty International said it was also in "direct talks" with the Taliban and had urged the "immediate and unconditional" freeing of the captives, most of them women in their 20s and 30s.
Ahmadi and provincial authorities said earlier that a face-to-face meeting was being organised between the South Koreans and Taliban. This was not confirmed by the South Korean embassy.
The spokesman said on Wednesday the Taliban had not killed any more of the hostages after the expiry of a deadline that day because direct talks with the South Koreans could open a "new phase of negotiations."
"We have not harmed or killed any of them so far but some of them are not doing well," he added on Thursday.
With tensions mounting and residents reporting increased military activity in Ghazni, there were reports Wednesday that the government was planning a
military operation to extract the aid workers - said to have been divided into
nine groups.
But officials denied such a plan was in the works and said leaflets dropped warning residents to evacuate or take cover referred to an operation that was not linked to the hostage crisis.
South Korea also reiterated its objections to a military operation and the United States, which has 27,000 troops here, said none was planned.
The Kabul government has resisted bending to the demands of the Taliban, which was removed from power in 2001 after subjecting Afghans to an extreme version of Islamic Sharia law, saying this would only encourage kidnappings.
A 62-year-old engineer is also being held by militants, who are said to have close links to the Taliban.
The engineer was captured with another German national, who suffered circulatory failure and was then shot dead by his captors, according to the results of a post-mortem released on Thursday.
The surviving German is being held with four Afghans. - AFP/de
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