World Evangelical Alliance Welcomes Release of Korean Hostages
By Eric Young
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Aug. 31 2007 ;

The head of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has welcomed the release of 19 South Korean hostages this week.

The group of Christian medical volunteers, originally numbering 23, endured six weeks of captivity at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan after their bus was overtaken by the Islamic militant group en route to provide free medical services to poor Afghan citizens.

Since the kidnapping – the largest abduction of foreigners in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 – two male hostages were killed by their captors. The remaining 21 were all released, beginning with two female hostages on Aug. 13 and followed weeks later by the final 19, who were released in successive rounds over the course of two days – Wednesday and Thursday. the rest