Taliban kidnap South Korean Christians, Germans
Pastor Dale Morgan
Taliban kidnap South Korean Christians, Germans*
AFP - Friday, July 20
KABUL (AFP) - - The Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for the
kidnapping of 18 South Korean Christians and two German nationals, and
said they would only free the Germans if Berlin withdraws troops from
Afghanistan.
The Koreans, on an evangelical and aid mission in the staunchly Islamic
country, were abducted Thursday, a day after the Germans were kidnapped
on the highway linking Kabul with Kandahar in the insurgency-hit south.
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by phone that all the hostages
were "safe and sound" and that an Islamic council would determine their
fate.
Ahmadi warned that the German prisoners would only be freed if Berlin
pulled its 3,000 troops out of Afghanistan, where they are stationed in
the north as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Germany on Friday said it was unclear whether two Germans kidnapped with
five Afghan colleagues Wednesday were indeed in Taliban hands.
"There are contradictory statements," foreign ministry spokesman Martin
Jaeger said.
"We will watch further developments calmly and carefully," he added.
"Our crisis team is working intensively to secure the rapid release of
both German men."
In Afghanistan, the Taliban spokesman meanwhile confirmed the South
Koreans' abduction from the bus they were travelling in in southern
Afghanistan.
"The Taliban have kidnapped the South Korean nationals," Ahmadi said
from an unknown location. "There are 18 South Koreans -- three men and
15 women.
"They are with the Taliban now and they are safe and sound. They are
under investigation and once the investigation is over, the Taliban
leading council will make a final decision about their fate."
The South Koreans belong to a church group engaged in "evangelistic" and
aid activity in one of Afghanistan's most insurgency-hit regions.
Ghazni province Governor Mirajuddin Pattan expressed anger at the
presence in his part of the country of such a large number of foreign
nationals, who are often prime targets for Taliban militants and also
criminals.
"They must have thought they are in Korea, not in war-torn Afghanistan,"
he told AFP. "They did not contact us, police or the security forces for
protection while travelling in this region."
South Korea urged Christian groups and other Koreans to get out of
Afghanistan, and set up crisis task forces in Seoul and at its Kabul
embassy.
"We have no legal means to ban travel to the country," a foreign
ministry spokeswoman said.
"However, we are strongly urging our people not to go. The government is
also advising Koreans in Afghanistan to return home."
Afghan police said they were not warned that the Koreans were in the area.
"They did not inform police about their presence in the area,"
provincial police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai told AFP. "We have found their
empty bus and police have launched a major search operation in the area."
Around 1,200 Christians, including hundreds of children from South Korea
-- which has the second largest number of Christians in East Asia after
the Philippines -- arrived in devoutly Islamic Afghanistan last summer.
The Kabul government ordered them out amid fears for their safety.
A foreign ministry official said there are 340 Koreans -- 200 soldiers
on a peacekeeping mission and 140 civilians -- known to be in
Afghanistan, but said it had no immediate figures on short-term visitors
such as the hostages.
Officials at the Saem-Mul Protestant Community Church in Bundang on the
outskirts of Seoul were waiting anxiously for news of the church members.
"We are in an emergency conference," said Oh Soo-In, a senior church
administrator. "We are quite concerned about their safety and whereabouts."
She said the group, in their 20 and 30s, had left Seoul on July 13 for
an evangelical mission to Afghanistan and were due to return home next
Monday.
"They are young Korean Christians who were engaged in short-term
evangelistic activity and service for children in Kandahar," said Joseph
Park, mission director of the Christian Council of Korea.
"NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are serving in many dangerous
places. We cannot turn away from poor people and children there just
because of safety risks."