Taliban spokesman says hostage talks a possibility

A purported Taliban spokesman today broached the possibility of hostage talks with South Korean officials, provided the United Nations mission in Afghanistan gives the militant group security guarantees, The Associated Press reported.

“The Taliban are ready to meet them in Kabul, other cities or other country, but only under one condition and that is that the U.N. guarantees their safety,” Qari Yousef Ahmadi said, speaking from an undisclosed location.

Twenty one hostages – 16 women and five men – remain from the group of 23 South Korean volunteer health workers that were captured by the Taliban on July 19 in Ghazni Province en route to Kandahar. Two of the hostages from the initial group have been shot dead.

Amnesty International on Thursday pleaded for the release of the hostages in a phone call to Ahmadi, whose response was: “we are trying to resolve this issue…acceptably.”

Ahmadi failed to provide assurances on the hostages’ safety, according to Amnesty.

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