Taliban captors move us frequently, says South Korean hostage

SEOUL: One of the 22 South Korean hostages threatened with death by Afghanistan's Taliban says they have been split into small groups which are moved frequently.

Lee Ji-Young, in a phone interview with Seoul's 'JoongAng Ilbo' newspaper published on Monday, also apologised for causing trouble.

"First of all, we feel sorry to have caused the trouble," the 34-year-old woman said on Sunday. She consulted one of her captors while giving the interview, the paper said.

The Taliban have said the hostages had been divided into small groups and were being held in three different provinces, in an attempt to thwart any rescue mission.

Lee said she was with a group of three others who are 'OK at the moment' but they did not know how the other captives are faring.

"We move sometimes once a day and sometimes every two or three days," Lee said, adding that at the time they were being held in a house.

She said her captors had made no particular threat and told her parents, 'Don't worry too much about me.'

Taliban militants threatened on Sunday to start killing the South Koreans unless the Afghan government accepts by noon on Monday their demand for the release of jailed rebels.

But a government negotiator repeated that there would be no prisoner exchange, and said the Islamic extremists must free the 16 women in the group of aid workers before other demands would be considered.