South Korean Embassy in Kabul announces early flight home. Negotiations over the other 19 hostages still held by the Talibans, 14 of whom are women, continue. Seoul and Washington call for their “immediate and unconditional” release. Ghazni governor makes an appeal.

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Two South Korean women freed by the Talibans are in good health and will shortly leave Afghanistan after a medical check-up, the South Korean Embassy in Kabul announced. The two women’s families are rejoicing but concerned about the fate of the remaining 19 people still in Taliban hands.

Tired and wearing a headscarf Kim Gin-A, 32, and Kim Kyung-Ja, 37, were handed over to Afghan mediators and then transferred to the Afghan Red Crescent Society near the southern town of Ghazni.

The Talibans abducted the 23-member Christian aid group to which they belonged on July 19. They released unconditionally the two women as a gesture of goodwill to pursue direct talks with South Korean officials. They want Taliban prisoners in Afghan jails to be released in return for the remaining captives and killed two of the men a few days after capturing the Christian missionary group to press their demand.

Ghazni Governor Mirajuddin Pattan told reporters there had been no ransom paid for the two and there would be none for the others. He also said that holding women was against the tenets of Islam, calling on the Taliban to "immediately and unconditionally free the rest of the hostages,” a call echoed by the governments of South Korea and the United States.

“We feel fortunate that at least some of the hostages have been released, but we again urge the kidnappers to immediately release all our citizens they hold hostage,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Cho Hee-Yong said. The group of hostages includes 14 women.

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