Taliban claim abduction of South Koreans, Germans

KABUL (AFP) - The Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for the kidnap of almost 20 South Koreans and two German nationals, and said they would only free the Germans if Berlin withdraws its troops from Afghanistan.

"The Taliban have kidnapped the South Korean nationals. There are 18 South Koreans -- three men and 15 women," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP in a telephone call from an unknown location.

Officials in Seoul earlier said that around 20 South Korean members of a Christian evangelical church group had been seized from a bus in the restive southern province of Ghazni.

"They are with the Taliban now and they safe and sound. They are under investigation and once the investigation is over, the Taliban leading council will make a final decision about their fate," Ahmadi said.

On the Germans, who were seized on Wednesday, Ahmadi said: "The Taliban have decided to free the German nationals if German troops pull out of Afghanistan and all the Taliban prisoners in Afghan prisons are released."

He said the Germans were "alive and in good health."