By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, purported spokesman of the Taliban holding 19 Korean hostages, was wounded during a strike by the NATO and Afghan forces against the militants in Afghanistan, according to a report.
Ahmadi said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency that he was shot on Monday night and he couldn't work as the spokesperson though the wound is not so serious.
He said he is now undergoing medical treatment.
Asked if the spokesman participates in battle, he said yes, explaining that he is also a Taliban fighter who conducts a holy war, dubbed ``Jihad.''
Actually, the NATO forces had a military operation Monday night in southern part of Afghanistan Helmand Province, 700 kilometers from Ghazni Province where the Taliban kidnapped the hostages July 19.
Sources in Kabul said that Ahmadi seems to be seriously wounded as a second spokesman of the Taliban, Zabeehullah Mujahid, now speaks of the hostage crisis more often than Ahamdi.
Meanwhile, the insurgents renewed their threat of killing the remaining hostages if their demands were not accepted.
However, unlike the past, the militants did not issue any deadline this time. The threat came from Mujahid after the rejection of the Taliban's demand regarding prisoners' swap by the Afghan government.
Addressing a crowded news conference on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said although the government was ready for talks with the Taliban for the release of hostages on humanitarian ground, it would not bow before the terrorists as far as their ``illegal and unconstitutional'' demands are concerned.
The presidential spokesman categorically rejected the prisoners' swap deal because he said such a deal is tantamount to encouraging kidnappings and lawlessness in the country, already grappling with insurgency and terrorism.
In response to the government's fresh statement, the Taliban said that the majority of the Koreans were sick and needed immediate medical help. Last month, the militants issued a similar statement about two female hostages. However, they were found to be in quite good health after their release.
The Taliban spokesman reiterated that they will kill a more hostages if the Korean and Afghan governments continued to ignore their demands. They have killed two male hostages and freed two females.
In the meantime, Hamidzada denied a report that a new presidential committee was set up to quickly resolve the hostage crisis. He meant the existing task force, which was formed soon after the kidnapping under the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.