By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceKABUL, AFGHANISTAN (ANS) – The last seven South Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The last seven South Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.The BBC reports they were released in two groups, within the space of a few hours, late on Thursday (local time). On Wednesday, 12 of their fellow Christian charity workers were released after a six-week ordeal.

The Taliban seized the group of 23 last month as they traveled by bus on the main highway from Kandahar to Kabul. Two male hostages were subsequently killed.

The last three captives, two women and a man, were handed over to ICRC officials in Ghazni province late on Thursday, the BBC said.

Earlier in the day two women and two men were handed over near the village of Janda.

The BBC’s correspondent Alastair Leithead says all seven appeared to be in good health.

The releases follow a series of direct talks between the South Korean government and the Taliban, the BBC said.

Two women were freed following the first round of talks a fortnight ago.

The release of 12 more hostages on Wednesday — 10 women and two men — came a day after Seoul said it had reached a deal with the Taliban.

South Korea agreed to withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan as scheduled by the end of the year. It also said it would end all missionary work in the country and stop its citizens from traveling there.

The BBC’s Alastair Leithead in Kabul says there was no mention of money being paid, but it is thought that a ransom may have been part of the deal.

The Taliban appear to have dropped their earlier demand that Taliban members be released from Afghan prisons in exchange for the hostages’ freedom, the BBC said.

During their six-week ordeal, the hostages are thought to have been held in several different locations in Ghazni province.

CNN also reports that Taliban kidnappers Thursday released the seven remaining South Korean hostages and handed them over to Red Cross officials, according to Afghan and Taliban officials.

The kidnappers freed the 10 women and two men in three separate groups, a day after South Korea announced its team of negotiators in Afghanistan had reached a deal with them, CNN reported.

The hostages are part of an original group of 23 South Korean Christian aid workers — most of them women — abducted by Taliban militants on July 19 as they traveled on a bus in Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan.

The kidnappers later executed two of the South Koreans. On August 13, they freed two women who were said to be ill, as a “gesture of goodwill,” according to a Taliban spokesman.

CNN also confirms that under the terms of an agreement reached on Tuesday, South Korea agreed to stick by its decision to withdraw its 200 non-combat troops from Afghanistan, who do mostly engineering and medical work. In addition, Seoul promised to halt all Christian missionary work in Afghanistan.

A South Korean presidential spokesman said there was no agreement to pay the captors, nor was there any mention of releasing Taliban prisoners — a major demand of the kidnappers.

HOSTAGE TIMELINE:

July 19: 23 South Korean Christian volunteer aid workers seized on a bus between Kabul and Kandahar

July 26: One male hostage shot dead - identified as Bae Hyung-kyu, 42, a church pastor and leader of the group

July 31: Another male hostage, Shim Sung-min, a 29-year-old former IT worker, found dead

August 10: South Korean officials and Taleban start talks

August 14: Two female hostages handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross as a goodwill gesture - leaving 19

August 29: 12 more hostages released - leaving seven

August 30: All remaining hostages released