Nineteen South Korean hostages freed by the Taliban had a tearful reunion at a secret location overnight, learning for the first time that two others were killed.
KABUL: Nineteen South Korean hostages freed by the Taliban had a tearful reunion at a secret location overnight, learning for the first time that two others were killed, the embassy said on Friday.
Seven of the original group of Christian aid workers captured six weeks ago were freed on Thursday, a day after 12 others were released, and the groups met late Thursday, a South Korean diplomat told.
"They wept. They hugged. They were shocked at the news of the two men who were killed. They didn't know about that," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
The hardline rebels shot dead the two men, a 42-year-old pastor and a 29-year-old missionary, about a week apart to try to pressure the government to free certain jailed Taliban fighters. Kabul refused.
The insurgents then freed two women on August 13 as a 'gesture of goodwill' during talks with South Korean officials that started after negotiations with the government ended in deadlock. The women are back in Seoul.
The latest to be freed spent the night in a 'very safe place', the embassy official said, refusing to give details.
There was a 50-50 chance they would fly home on Friday, the embassy official said.
On Wednesday guards at Kabul's only five-star hotel told that the first batch of South Koreans was there and under heavy security, but this was not confirmed.
The South Koreans were split into small groups while they were kept hostage by the Taliban, which was in government between 1996 and 2001 and is now waging an intense insurgency against the new administration.
They were released in small groups after a deal was struck between Taliban negotiators and Seoul. The rebels have denied a ransom was involved but a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday that South Korea paid two million dollars to the hardliners.
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