Twenty-three South Korean hostages held by Taliban rebels in Afghanistan are in good health and any use of force to rescue them would put their lives at risk, a Taliban spokesman said on Monday.
The Taliban on Sunday extended a deadline for South Korea to agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and the Afghan government to release Taliban prisoners by 24 hours to 1430 GMT on Monday. After that they would start killing the Koreans.
"They are in good health and fine, but we would like to repeat that any use of force will claim the lives of the hostages and the Taliban then would not be responsible," said Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf.
The 23 hostages belong to the "Saemmul Church" in Bundang, a city outside South Korea's capital, Seoul. Most of them are in their 20s and 30s, and include nurses and English teachers.
While tribal elders tried to mediate between the militants and government negotiators, Afghan forces have surrounded the group of some 70 kidnappers in the Qarabagh area of Ghazni province, south of the capital Kabul.
The Afghan government was hopeful for a peaceful outcome.
"We are working on it. We are hopeful that we will have good achievements and good results from what we are doing," said Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashari.
"We have assigned a working group in Ghazni province to work on the issue and we are serious about what we are doing," he said, declining to give further details.
A delegation of eight South Korean officials, including a deputy foreign minister and a presidential advisor, were also aiding the negotiations, a Korean embassy official said.
"The diplomats from the embassy are still in negotiations with community elders of Ghazni province to solve the matter peacefully and secure the safe release of the hostages," he said.
