Outmatched by foreign troops, the Taliban often resort to kidnapping civilians caught traveling on treacherous roads, particularly in the country's south, where the insurgency is raging. The tactic hurts President Hamid Karzai's government by discouraging foreigners involved in reconstruction projects from venturing into remote areas where their help is most needed.
The abductions came a day after two Germans and five of their Afghan colleagues working on a dam project were kidnapped in central Wardak Province.
Ahmadi said the Taliban were also holding the two Germans, and threatened to kill them if Germany did not withdraw its 3,000 troops from a NATO-led force by noon today -- the same deadline he gave South Korea.
Germany's Foreign Ministry said it was "aware of the statement by the so-called spokesman of the Taliban" but that it contradicted a statement the previous day that the Taliban was not holding the Germans.
"We will continue to carefully monitor developments of the situation," ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said. "All necessary steps have been taken. The crisis team continues to work toward a swift release of the two kidnapped men."
On June 28, another German man was kidnapped in western Afghanistan, but was released after a week.
South Korea has about 200 troops serving with an 8,000-strong US-led force, which is separate from the 40,000-member NATO-led force.
It was unclear what the Koreans were doing in Afghanistan.
A year ago, hundreds of South Korean Christians were ordered to leave Afghanistan amid rumors they were proselytizing in the conservative Islamic nation. A member of that group promised they would return to the country in smaller groups, but denied charges of spreading Christianity.
Yonhap News Agency reported that most of the hostages were members of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, just south of Seoul.
There were conflicting reports on how many Koreans were kidnapped.
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