Second hostage found dead

GHAZNI, Afghanistan – Police at daybreak today discovered the body of a second South Korean hostage slain by the Taliban, officials said.

A purported Taliban spokesman had said the hostage was killed because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents.

The Al-Jazeera television network, meanwhile, aired footage that it said showed seven female hostages in Afghanistan.

The victim’s body was found on the side of the road in the village of Arizo Kalley in Andar District, about six miles west of Ghazni city, said Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator in the area.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill the male captive Monday evening because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade prisoners for the Christian volunteers, who were in their 12th day of captivity Monday.

Al-Jazeera not say how it obtained the shaky video of the hostages, and the video’s authenticity could not immediately be verified.

The female hostages, heads veiled in accordance with the Islamic law enforced by the Taliban, were seen crouching in the dark, eyes closed or staring at the ground, expressionless.

The hostages did not speak as they were filmed.

The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Koreans riding on a bus through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway July 19.