Second South Korean Hostage Is Killed, Taliban Says

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hard-line militia killed a second South Korean hostage yesterday because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents. Afghan officials said they hadn't recovered a body and couldn't confirm the claim.

The Al-Jazeera television network, meanwhile, showed footage that it said was seven female hostages in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill the male captive because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade prisoners for the Christian volunteers, who were in their 12th day of captivity. "The Kabul and Korean governments are lying and cheating. They did not meet their promise of releasing Taliban prisoners," Mr. Ahmadi said by phone.