Taliban promises release of South Koreans

GHAZNI, Afghanistan – Taliban militants agreed Tuesday to release 19 South Korean church volunteers held hostage for six weeks after Seoul reaffirmed a pledge to withdraw its troops by year’s end and prevent Christian missionaries from working in Afghanistan.

The militants apparently backed away from demands for a prisoner exchange. But the Taliban, which killed two South Korean hostages last month, could emerge with enhanced political legitimacy for negotiating with a foreign government.

The accord for the South Koreans’ release came during one of the bloodiest periods of the Taliban’s war against U.S. and NATO forces since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Underscoring the violence, a suicide bomber attacked NATO troops helping build a bridge in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing three American soldiers, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because not all families had been notified.

In southern Afghanistan, U.S.-led and Afghan troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in ground clashes and airstrikes that left more than 100 militants dead, the coalition said.

The battle in southern Kandahar province started after the joint force was ambushed by a large group of insurgents who tried to overrun their position several times, before being strafed by airstrikes, the statement from the coalition said.

South Korea’s decision to hold face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban may dismay the United States government, which refuses to talk to the Taliban.

“Maybe they (the Taliban) did not achieve all that they demanded, but they achieved a lot in terms of political credibility,” said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday that the U.S. wanted the Koreans returned to their families and stressed that U.S. policy was not to make concessions to terrorists.

The Taliban kidnapped 23 Koreans as they traveled by bus from Kabul to Kandahar on July 19. The militants killed two male hostages in late July, then freed two female captives earlier this month.