Two female South Korean hostages in Afghanistan will be released "soon" because they are ill, a Taliban spokesman said Saturday.
Meanwhile, negotiations continued to free all 21 South Korean hostages, who have been held since July 19.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the decision to release the women was made by the Taliban's high commanders, but that they have not yet decided when the women will be freed.
Earlier in the day, a Taliban leader raised hopes that all the hostages would be freed, saying that they would "definitely" be released — possibly as soon as "today or tomorrow."
Mullah Qari Bashir said that face-to-face negotiations with four Korean officials that began Friday had been going well.
He said the Taliban was sticking with its original demand that 21 Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan be released in exchange for the hostages' freedom.
"Definitely these people will be released. God willing, our friends (Taliban militants in prison) will be released," Bashir said outside the Afghan Red Cross office in Ghazni.
The hostages, a church group made up of 16 women and five men, were riding on a bus near Ghazni when they were kidnapped July 19. There were originally 23 hostages, but two have been killed.
The Taliban wants the Afghan government and U.S. military to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for the safe return of the South Koreans.
The Afghan government has not agreed to a prisoner release, saying such a move would encourage more kidnappings. Afghan authorities say talks with the Taliban are the best way to resolve the problem.Protesters attend a rally near the U.S. embassy in Seoul demanding the United States negotiate the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan on Monday, Aug. 6.
(Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)
The South Korean government is ordering its aid organizations to leave Afghanistan by the end of August for safety reasons.
Last month, the government banned its citizens from travelling to Afghanistan.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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