18 South Koreans Abducted in Afghanistan

[3rd Herd]

The usual disclaimer:
Associated Press
18 South Koreans Abducted in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH 07.20.07, 9:35 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban gunmen abducted at least 18 members of a South Korean church group in southern Afghanistan, and a purported spokesman for the Islamic militia said Friday it will question them about their activities in Afghanistan before deciding their fate.

The Koreans were seized Thursday in Ghazni province as they were traveling by bus from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai, the provincial police chief.

"We are investigating, who are they, what are they doing in Afghanistan," Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told The Associated Press by satellite telephone. "After our investigation, the Taliban higher authorities will make a decision about their fate. Right now they are safe and sound."

The South Koreans' bus driver, released late Thursday, said there were 18 women and five men on the bus, Ahmadzai said. The Taliban spokesman said 15 women and three men were seized. The discrepancy could not be immediately clarified.

The abductions came a day after two Germans and five of Afghan colleagues working on a dam project were kidnapped in central Wardak province. Ahmadi said the Taliban were also holding the two Germans, and threatened to kill them if Germany did not pull out its troops serving in the NATO-led force in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, two separate bombings in southern Afghanistan left five civilians dead, while a Taliban ambush killed six police officers, officials said.

_ A car bomb targeting a U.S.-led coalition convoy in Helmand province's Sangin district killed two civilians and wounded two coalition troops, said Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, a coalition spokesman.

_ A mine exploded under a civilian car in Kandahar province's Zhari district, killing three civilians in it, said Sayed Afghan Saqib, Kandahar's police chief.

_ In Helmand's Marja district, Taliban militants ambushed police Thursday, leaving six officers dead and two others wounded, said Muhammad Hussein, the provincial police chief.

Violence has soared in Afghanistan in recent weeks. More than 3,300 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an AP count based on numbers from Afghan and Western officials.

In the church member kidnapping, several dozen Taliban fighters stopped the bus and drove it into the desert before abandoning the vehicle and forcing the group to walk, Ahmadzai said. The driver was handed over to local villagers, while the fate of Koreans remains unknown, he said.

It was unclear what the Koreans were doing in Afghanistan.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry confirmed that about 20 South Koreans were kidnapped near the Afghan capital Thursday afternoon.

"The government plans to do exert every possible effort so that our kidnapped citizens can return safely as soon as possible," ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong told reporters in Seoul.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the hostages were members of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, just south of the South Korean capital, Seoul.

An official at the Presbyterian church confirmed 20 of its members were in Afghanistan for volunteer work. The group left South Korea on July 13 and was to return on July 23, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media.

Germany's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said it was "aware of the statement by the so-called spokesman of the Taliban."

"At the same time, we have a conflicting statement from a Taliban spokesman from yesterday. He indicated that the kidnapped Germans are not in the hands of the Taliban," said Martin Jaeger, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry. "(Our) crisis team continues to work toward a swift release of the two kidnapped men."

Outmatched by foreign troops, Taliban have resorted to kidnapping civilians caught traveling treacherous roads, particularly in the country's south, where the insurgency is raging.

The tactic enables the militants to undermine President Hamid Karzai's government by discouraging foreigners involved in reconstruction projects from venturing outside Afghanistan's main cities.


Associated Press writer Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/20/ap3935541.html

 

[vonGarvin]

"We are investigating, who are they, what are they doing in Afghanistan," Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told The Associated Press by satellite telephone. "After our investigation, the Taliban higher authorities will make a decision about their fate. Right now they are safe and sound."

And Taliban Jack wants to negotiate with this lot?  Someone call 911 and place me under arrest, because I'm hopping mad, ready to spit! 

 

[3rd Herd]

The History:

FACTBOX-Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
20 Jul 2007 09:38:17 GMT
Source: Reuters
July 20 (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents stopped a bus in Afghanistan and kidnapped some of the passengers, including 18 Korean citizens, a local police chief said on Friday.

Following are details of reported kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan.

Nov. 2003 - Turkish engineer Hassan Onal is released by Taliban kidnappers after a month in captivity. Onal was seized from a U.S.-funded highway project on Oct. 30.

Dec. 2003 - Two Indians, kidnapped while working on a U.S.-funded road project, are released unharmed.

March 2004 - One Turk is shot and a second kidnapped in an attack in southern Afghanistan. They had been working on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. The kidnapped Turk was later released.

Nov. 2004 - U.N. workers Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Shqipe Hebibi from Kosovo and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan are freed almost four weeks after they were abducted at gunpoint in Kabul. A Taliban splinter faction, Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), said it held them.

Dec. 2004 - A Turkish engineer working on a road-building project between Jalalabad and Kunar is kidnapped. The Interior Ministry later said the body of a kidnapped Turkish construction engineer had been found in eastern Afghanistan.

May 2005 - Clementina Cantoni, an Italian working for the CARE International aid agency, was seized by gunmen in Kabul. She was released unharmed after more than three weeks.

Aug. 2005 - David Addison, a British engineer, was kidnapped when gunmen attacked a convoy in the western province of Farah and killed three police escorts. Addison's body was found on Sept. 3. Taliban rebels said they killed him.

November 2005 - Taliban guerrillas kidnap P.M. Kutty, an engineer with India's state-run Border Road Organisation, in the Khash Rod district of Nimroz province. He was killed on Nov. 22.

March 2006 - Taliban insurgents say they killed four hostages and dumped their bodies in the Kandahar-Helmand area in southern Afghanistan. The four were abducted on March 11. An official at the Ecolog services company in Kabul said four of its workers, ethnic Albanians from Macedonia, were missing.

April 2006 - An Indian engineer, identified as K. Suryanarayan, was found beheaded on April 30 not far from where he was kidnapped near the main road between Qalat, and Ghazni to the north. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Oct. 2006 - Gabriele Torsello, a London-based photojournalist who is a Muslim, was kidnapped on Oct. 12 by gunmen after he left by bus from Lashkar-Gah, capital of Helmand province in the south. He was released unharmed on Nov. 3.

March 2007 - The Taliban captured Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo of La Repubblica and two Afghans in Helmand province. He is handed over to the Italian embassy on March 19. His Afghan driver was beheaded. His translator was executed on April 8.

April 2007 - The Taliban say they have kidnapped Eric Damfreville, a Frenchman, working for Terre d'Enfance, along with their local driver and two other Afghans in Nimroz province. He is released on May 11. A French woman hostage who also worked for the Terre d'Enfance aid organisation was released in late April by the Taliban after three weeks in captivity.

July 2007 - Two Germans, travelling in a car in Wardak province, southwest of the capital, Kabul, are kidnapped. The identity of the group and who kidnapped them was not clear.

- Taliban insurgents stop a bus in Afghanistan and kidnap 18 Korean citizens
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B838077.htm

 

[chanman]

Hmm, a friend's boyfriend (Korean, coincidentially) was in Afghanistan with a Christian/church group a year or two ago teaching English.  I wonder if it might be the same or a similar organization.

 

[cameron]

As much as I have faith in God there's no bloody way i'm going to Afghanistan armed only with a bible.  I hope they're all released unharmed.

 

[Greymatters]

Its difficult to understand why these civlians keep flocking to the area when it is so dangerous for them...

 

[1feral1]

No doubt throwing around Christianity in a  hostile extreme muslim environment. Plain stupidity on their behalf. I have no sympathy for them at all. How much western money will it take to free them, or will the enemy use them as propaganda, and behead them for their infidel bacon loving ways?

I look at it as a South Korean problem, nor ours.

If god fearing god botherers want to risk life and limb by being a minority in a deadly place, which many locals would consider a death sentance, well thats up to them. Stupid is as stupid does.

They're on their own.


Wes

 

[Greymatters]

Hey, you following me around on these threads or what?  ;D

 

[1feral1]

Who, me? Just another happy coinsidence, ha!


Cheers,

Wes

 

[Greymatters]

Immelman turn, pal, now Im on your tail for change... 

 

[Franko]

It's not looking too good now....

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070721/taliban_afghanistan_070721/20070721?hub=TopStories

Taliban claims to have killed 2 German hostages

Updated Sat. Jul. 21 2007 9:27 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A man who claims to speak for the Taliban said two German hostages had been killed, while the threat of death hangs over 18 South Korean visitors to Afghanistan who were abducted two days ago.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who has contacted The Associated Press several times, said the militant group had killed two Germans -- who had been kidnapped along with five Afghan colleagues on Wednesday -- because Germany hadn't met demands to withdraw troops from the country.

The German engineers had been working on a dam project in the southern province of Wardak, but little more is known about their identities.

Reports of their death cannot be confirmed, and the German government has not acknowledged that the men are in the hands of the Taliban.

"They've confirmed two Germans were abducted on Tuesday, civil engineers, along with five Afghan escorts, about 120 kilometres southwest of Kabul, but they've never confirmed they were in fact the Taliban," Louis Charbonneau, a journalist with Reuters News Service based in Berlin, told CTV Newsnet.

A report published Saturday in one of Germany's leading newspapers quoted unnamed government officials who said Ahmadi actually had nothing to do with the kidnapping, and his information could be wrong, Charbonneau said.

Ahmadi had said Friday that 18 South Korean civilians taken by the Taliban would also be killed, unless the Asian country withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan by Saturday at noon.

Taliban gunmen boarded the busy carrying the South Korean Christians and took them prisoner on Thursday. Fifteen of the 18 passengers on the bus were women.

CTV's Denelle Balfour, reporting from Kandahar, said the Koreans were working as volunteers and seem to have the support of the Afghans they were working with.

"The South Koreans are asking that the hostages be released, they are in discussions, and we've heard that some tribal elders in Ghazni province where this occurred are trying to help negotiate the release," Balfour told CTV Newsnet.

She said it is the largest group of foreign nationals ever taken hostage in Afghanistan.

The South Koreans were travelling from Kabul to Kandahar when the bus was boarded, according to police.

They are Christian members of a South Korean church and were doing volunteer work in Afghanistan, against their government's urgings.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Friday that they were members of Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, near Seoul. Another report said they were volunteering in a hospital.

A church official has confirmed that 20 of its members were doing volunteer work in Afghanistan and that they have been unable to contact them.

The driver of the bus was released late Thursday. He said there were 18 women and five men on the bus, but there was no explanation of the discrepancy between the numbers provided by the Taliban.

South Korea has about 200 troops serving with a U.S. forces, in operations separate from the 40,000-member NATO-led force.

There are about 3,000 German soldiers attached to NATO's International Security Assistance Force, stationed in the northern part of Afghanistan. The German foreign ministry estimates there are 500 civilian aid workers in Afghanistan as well.

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

Let's take the Christian/God bashing thing out of it for a moment and remember that this is the model that Jack Layton is proposing too....from a secular humanist point of view in his case. The thought being that if we just love these people by sending "helping agents" rather than ridding the country of thugs and drug dealers then everyone will decide that they want to throw down their AK 47s, gather round the camp fire and sing Kum by Ya.
Not all Christians are naive enough to believe that going in armed with only a bible and good intentions is a good idea.

 

[Flip]

Not all Christians are naive enough to believe that going in armed with only a bible and good intentions is a good idea.

I absolutely agree.

They should be required to hire security or make some arrangements by the government.
A surprising number of my friends have done missionary work.
In some ways it's not all that different from what you guys in the military do.
Preparation is the key.
The Koreans weren't prepared. ( I suspect )

 

[3rd Herd]

Following the lead of IN HOC, think not too many years back both Christian and Muslim NGOs have packed up their operations when the environment has become too hot. One international NGO has been for years dealing with the issue of "neutrality" verses "armed neutrality" after several of it's employees were killed. Further, in thinking this applies to not only this situation but  to others. Afterall, the Pope employs missionaries in using the Swiss. And then in the Order of Jesuits the Pope has what has been quoted as a first rate intelligence service. There are other cases of "bodyguards" being employed by various Protestant missionary groups prior to and after the Boxer rebellion in China. As to Jack Layton I am willing to help subsidise his airfare so he and his advisory can have a calm and fruitful meeting in some out of the patrol zone part of the country.

edit: grammer

 

[3rd Herd]

The Usual Disclaimer:
Afghanistan Disputes Report That Taliban Killed 2 Hostages
By BARRY BEARAK and MARK LANDLER
Published: July 21, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 21 — A man identifying himself as a Taliban spokesman said the insurgents had fatally shot two German captives today, but Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry denied the report, insisting that one of the hostages had died of a heart attack and the other was still alive.

“Our efforts at negotiations are ongoing and the government will use every legal means available to get the remaining hostage released,” said Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Like many fast-moving news events here, the truth was difficult to ferret out.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, one of several people who from time to time claim to speak for the Taliban, announced early in the afternoon that the two captives had been killed because the German government failed to heed a deadline for announcing the removal of its 3,000 troops from Afghanistan.

The unidentified hostages, described in the German media as engineers, had been kidnapped Wednesday along with six Afghan colleagues as they traveled on the nation’s main highway just southwest of the capital.

But Mr. Ahmadi offered no proof of his claim. And German officials were skeptical. A spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry, Amelie Utz, said the ministry had convened its crisis coordination team and was in contact with the Afghan government.

For days, officials in Berlin have been dealing with contradictory statements from the Taliban. “One person said, ‘We don’t have any German hostages,’ ” Ms. Utz said. “The other said, ‘We have German hostages and we’re going to kill them.’ ”

Still, she said, Germany is taking the reports of the killings seriously. Chancellor Angela Merkel postponed an annual summer interview today with the state broadcaster, ARD, citing the situation in Afghanistan.

German officials are increasingly concerned that their citizens, especially those working in Afghanistan, could be targets of attacks because of the nation’s participation in the NATO-led military force.

The interior minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said last month that Germany faced a heightened threat of terrorism because of its presence in Afghanistan. In October, the Parliament is scheduled to vote on extending the mandate of its 3,000 troops. If the hostages have indeed been murdered, that would deepen an already-tense debate over Germany’s continued participation.

The executions, if confirmed, would certainly make the situation seem dire for a South Korean church group of 18 or more. They were taken hostage Thursday by Taliban gunmen who stopped their bus in Ghazni Province on the same main highway where the Germans were captured the day before.

Mr. Ahmadi, contacted by journalists on Friday, again assumed the role of spokesman. He said the South Koreans would be killed if their government didn’t announce the removal of its 210 troops in Afghanistan by noon today. That deadline came and went without any further word.

The South Korean troops, who largely work on humanitarian missions, like medical assistance and reconstruction work, already were scheduled to leave the country at the end of the year.

“Under the existing plan, we only have several months to go before the troops complete their mission and pull out,” South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun said today at a news conference. “They can’t pick up and leave immediately. They move as dictated by the military plan.”

In a televised plea today, Mr. Roh called for the release of the hostages: “Under any circumstances, precious lives must not be lost. The Korean government is prepared to make its utmost effort with the relevant parties to secure the speedy release of the Korean citizens.”

A Korean government delegation is heading to Afghanistan to try to reach an “understanding” with the Taliban, the Reuters news agency reported today, quoting an unidentified government official.

The number of those abducted was put at 18 by Mr. Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman. Afghan officials in Ghazni amended that total to 23 after speaking with the driver of the waylaid bus, who was released by the Taliban. The majority of the captives are believed to be women.

“We understand the kidnapped South Koreans have been doing medical volunteer services,” President Roh said.

But the Christian nature of the group could complicate matters. In 2001, when the Taliban still controlled most of Afghanistan, the government arrested eight foreign aid workers, charging them with proselytizing, a capital offense. They were about to face trial when the Taliban fell from power. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/world/asia/21cnd-afghan.html?hp

 

[AverageJoe]

Were these plans to remove the south Korean troops not well known??? Why would these terrorists bother with kidnapping so many people to get non-combatant troops out of their country a few months earlier then they were already scheduled to leave?

 

[1feral1]

Heard on CNN last night before I crashed that two German citizens kidnapped on Wednesday have been executed, because German troops were not removed from the AO.

I am sure the ROK citizens are in the same boat, but as I said, they have brought this on themselves for being there in the first place.

Wes

 

[AverageJoe]

Now they are demanding that they free 23 taliban prisoners in exchange for the 23 hostages. What are they thinking?!?!?! The ROK don't have any say or pull in the release of any prisoners held by the afghan or US government. Do they? I would think not.

Just read another article saying that they know where the hostages are being held and the village in which they are held has been surrounded by international and afghan security forces......I wonder how things are gonna turn out?

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

Now they are demanding that they free 23 taliban prisoners in exchange for the 23 hostages. What are they thinking?!?!?! The ROK don't have any say or pull in the release of any prisoners held by the afghan or US government. Do they? I would think not.

Just read another article saying that they know where the hostages are being held and the village in which they are held has been surrounded by international and afghan security forces......I wonder how things are gonna turn out?

THINKING?

 

[Franko]

Well they'll be dead in 24 hours.

This reeks of the Taliban either being desperate or there are now distinct factions growing in the ranks and the leaders have no control.

Thoughts?