The 21 South Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan by the Taliban recounted their six weeks of captivity on Wednesday, revealing the harsh conditions and numerous beatings they endured before being freed nearly two weeks ago.
"We were beaten with a tree branch or kicked around. Some kidnappers threatened us with death at gunpoint to force us to follow them in chanting their Islamic prayer for conversion," Je Chang-hee told a news conference with 20 other fellow ex-hostages at a hospital south of Seoul, where the Christian volunteers have been receiving medical treatment since they returned home 10 days ago.Je said he and the others pretended to recite Islamic conversion prayers by muttering some Korean words.
"My group was kept in a closed place like a shed [at a Taliban home] but we were not allowed to go out ... it was like suffocating," recalled Cha Hae-jin.
The female hostage said the food was not suitable and that the captives vomited and suffered diarrhea, with some showing symptoms of dehydration.
"Four of us once had to share two potatoes for one day," she said.
The original group of 23 Korean Christian volunteers – 16 women and 7 men – had been kidnapped by Taliban militants on July 19 while on their way to provide free medical aid to poor Afghans. Over the course of their 40-day captivity, the rebels killed two men and freed two women members of the group before releasing the last groups of hostages near the end of August.
At least one of the slain men, Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was reportedly killed for refusing to convert.
During the question-and-answer session on Wednesday, the freed hostages told reporters that they were kept together for the first three days of their captivity but were later separated into six different groups, with each group consisting of two to four people. Yu Kyeong-Sik, 55, said they were moved around continuously on motorbikes or on foot.
Je, who served as an English interpreter and engaged in volunteer work at a hospital in Afghanistan, said his group of captives was forced to work.
