Afghanistan

South Korea and the United States agreed not to use force to free 21 Korean hostages in Afghanistan on Tuesday, but Afghan troops warned villagers of a possible offensive in the area where the captives are.

“Acceptăm Shari’a  legea lui Dumnezeu….dacă cineva consumă alcool în public, chiar dacă  Consiliul Natiunilor Unite sau Charta Natiunilor Unite spune ca acela nu trebuie pedepsit, noi îl vom pedepsi. AcÅ£iunile ÅŸi  politica noastră sunt în concordanţă cu voinÅ£a lui Dumnezeu, aÅŸa cum este ea conÅ£inută în Qu’ran.

A civilian grand jury is investigating the deaths of two detainees at a U.S. jail in Afghanistan nearly 5 years ago, according to current and former service members who said they’ve testified.

A noon deadline imposed on 21 surviving South Korean hostages kidnapped by the Taliban approached Wednesday with negotiations apparently deadlocked and international concern growing.

Police at daybreak Tuesday discovered the body of a second South Korean hostage slain by the Taliban, officials said. A purported Taliban spokesman had said the hostage was killed because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents

Efforts to save the lives of South Koreans being held by Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban militia took on new urgency Tuesday after the rebels said they had killed a second hostage.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Political and religious leaders invoked Afghan and Islamic traditions of chivalry and hospitality Sunday in attempts to shame the Taliban into releasing 18 female South Korean captives.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) – Taliban militants threatened to start killing Monday their 22 South Korean hostages if the government did not accept by noon their demand for the release of jailed rebels.

 GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A female hostage among the remaining 22 Koreans held by Taliban fighters appealed on Saturday for a speedy end to their ordeal, as a senior Afghan official said force may be used to free them if talks fail.

 KABUL, Afghanistan – Two lawmakers — one of them a former Taliban member — and several influential elders have joined negotiations with the hardline militia to step up pressure for the release of 22 South Korean hostages, an official said Saturday.