Afghanistan's Taliban set a fresh deadline of 0730 GMT Wednesday to free prisoners of the insurgent group in exchange for the lives of 21 South Korean hostages, a demand the Afghan government has rejected.
On Tuesday Afghan police found the blood-stained body of the second hostage killed by the Taliban since the hardline Islamists kidnapped 23 South Korean Christian volunteers two weeks ago. The Taliban killed the leader of the group a week ago.Separately, Al Jazeera television broadcast a video on Tuesday showing a German man held by the Taliban and said he had appealed to Berlin and Washington to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan.
Officials in Seoul say the Taliban have been in touch with the South Korean government through the country's embassy in Kabul. Seoul has called for "flexibility" to resolve the stand-off, a comment analysts say is mostly directed at Washington to pressure Afghanistan to strike a deal.
"If the Kabul administration and Korean government do not give a positive reply to our demand about the release of Taliban prisoners by tomorrow 1200 (local time), then we will start killing other hostages," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an unknown location.
President Hamid Karzai's spokesman said that bowing to Taliban demands would encourage more kidnappings, adding: "We are doing what is the best for the interests of the hostages, and government".
Karzai came under harsh criticism in March for releasing a group of Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist.
The crisis has focused attention on growing lawlessness in Afghanistan, where Taliban influence and attacks are spreading to areas previously considered safe, undermining support for a government unable to provide security.
RESCUE BID?
Taliban spokesman Yousuf said Afghan negotiators had not contacted the Taliban since the second hostage was killed on Monday, adding that the insurgents suspected the Afghan government and foreign troops were planning a rescue bid.
Any attempt to rescue the hostages by force would put the Koreans' lives at risk, he said.
