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Taliban Kidnaps 18 South Koreans in Afghanistan

Bus hijacked on road from Kabul to Kandahar

By Caroline Miller, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 20, 2007 11:54 AM CDT

(Newser) – Eighteen South Koreans were kidnapped yesterday in Afghanistan by Taliban gunmen who hijacked the bus they were traveling in from Kabul to Kandahar. The South Koreans were members of a church group, thought to be in the country to do volunteer work. Several dozen armed men stopped the vehicle, drove it into the desert, and made the Koreans proceed on foot for an hour.

A Taliban spokesman said the South Koreans will be questioned before their fate is determined. A church official in South Korea was still trying to confirm that their members were the ones captured. The abduction came a day after two Germans and five Afghans working on a dam were also kidnapped.

An Afghan man rides a bicycle passes the South Korean embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, July 20, 2007. Taliban militants kidnapped at least 18 South Koreans, including 15 women, at gunpoint from... (Associated Press)

An Afghan security guard comes out of the South Korean embassy gate in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, July 20, 2007. Taliban militants kidnapped at least 18 South Koreans, including 15 women, at gunpoint... (Associated Press)

Afghan policemen stand guard near the site of a suicide attack in Fayzabad, the capital of Badakshan province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 19, 2007. A purported spokesman for the Taliban... (Associated Press)

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