Taliban insurgents freed seven remaining South Korean hostages in Afghanistan tonight after a six-week kidnap ordeal, following a deal that Afghan officials said included a ransom payment by Seoul.
The four women and three men were handed over in two batches to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ghazni province in southeast Afghanistan, from where the Taliban seized 23 Christian volunteers on July 19th.
It was the largest case of abductions in the resurgent Taliban campaign since US-led troops ousted the Islamists from power in 2001.
"The remaining hostages released are in good health, and the hostage drama is over," said Merajuddin Pattan, governor of Ghazni. "We have identified the people responsible for that and they will be punished in the coming weeks. We will teach them a lesson."
Reporters were not allowed to speak to the released captives as they stepped down from a minibus after dusk outside Ghazni town, the women covering their heads and faces with scarves.
The Taliban killed two male hostages last month, but later agreed to release 19 others they were still holding after Seoul agreed to pull all its nationals out of the insurgency-wracked central Asian country.
Some Afghan officials say South Korea agreed to pay a ransom during negotiations with the Taliban, which one foreign diplomat said started out as a demand for $20 million.
The South Korean government was praised at home for its part in securing the release of its nationals. But some said Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent in directly negotiating with the Taliban.