塔利班继续扣留韩国人质

在8月份为期3周的谈判后，于7月底在阿富汗被绑架的23名韩国人（已有2名人质被杀害）中的21名仍然被塔利班扣留。塔利班要求释放被现在阿富汗政府囚禁的塔利班战俘来交换这些人质。这些人质中有18名妇女，5名男子，他们都是为遭受战争蹂躏地区的受害者们提供医疗和其它无偿帮助的教会志愿者。绑架事件发生后，韩国政府已经禁止韩国公民去阿富汗旅行。

Taliban Rebel Group Continues to Hold South Korean Hostages

21 of the 23 South Korean hostages abducted in Afghanistan late July are still in the hands of a Taliban rebel group in August after 3 weeks of talks and negotiations.Two hostages have already been killed. The rebel group is demanding the release of Taliban milltant prisoners held by the current Afghan government in exchange for the captives.The hostages - 18 women and 5 men- are all church volunteers who were providing medical and other volunteer aid to victims in the war-ravaged country. In the wake of the abductions,