The Taliban released the last seven South Korean hostages in Ghazni province of central Afghanistan on Thursday, thus a six-week hostage scenario was completely wrapped up. The following are the major developments during this crisis.
July 19, 23 South Korean nationals were kidnapped by the Taliban in Ghazni province when they were traveling from Afghan capital Kabul to the southern Kandahar city. Taliban militants demanded the immediate withdrawal of all 200 South Korean troops from this country, and threatened to kill the hostages if the demand was not met.
After the kidnapping, the South Korean government immediately said it would pull out all its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and also sent a delegation to Afghanistan to tackle the issue.
July 21, the Taliban raised a new demand, which was the Afghan government should release 23 Taliban prisoners to exchange for the 23 hostages. The group threatened to kill all hostages if its demands were not met before 7:00 p.m. (1430 GMT), July 22. On July 22 and 23, the Taliban twice postponed the deadline for executing the hostages.
July 25, Taliban militants shot dead one male hostage to press Afghan and South Korean authorities to accept their demands. They threatened to kill more hostages if their demands were not met before 1:00 a.m., July 26 (2030 GMT, July 25).
July 26, the Taliban set a new deadline for executing hostages, and demanded for the exchange of eight Taliban prisoners for eight hostages as the first step.
July 26, the South Korean government strongly condemned the kidnapping and the killing of its nationals by the Taliban, and urged Taliban militants to release them immediately. At the same time, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun sent a special envoy to Afghanistan to seek a faster peaceful solution to the crisis.
Afterwards the Afghan government and the Taliban held several talks, but did not make any progress.
July 29, the Afghan Presidential Palace said in a statement that Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to spare no efforts in releasing the hostage during his talks with the special envoy of South Korean President.
July 30, the Taliban shot dead a second hostage, also a male, citing Afghan officials' lack of sincerity in the talks.
Aug. 2, a Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the Taliban was ready to hold face-to-face talks with South Korean officials to seek a solution to the hostage crisis.
Aug. 10, South Korean officials held first face-to-face talks with two Taliban delegates in Ghazni city, the capital of Ghazni province.
Aug. 13, the Taliban released two female hostages to show "a good gesture" toward the South Korean government and people.
Aug. 19, some hostages reportedly went on a hunger to protest the Taliban had been separating all hostages into several groups.
Aug. 28, the South Korean government and the Taliban restarted face-to-face talks in Ghazni city and reached an agreement on releasing the hostages. The South Korean government promised to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year and stopped Christian activities in this country, while the Taliban agreed to free all the remaining 19 hostages within the coming days.
Aug. 29, 12 South Korean hostages including 10 female and two male were released by Taliban militants.
Source: Xinhua
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