Korean Embassy in Afghanistan launches search operation for missing South Korean missionary evangelists kidnapped by Taliban forces
by Michael Ireland
July 27, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) -- International Christian Concern (ICC), a Washington-DC based human rights group, www.persecution.org says the Korean Embassy in Afghanistan has launched a search mission for the kidnapped South Korean evangelists taken from a bus yesterday. Taliban insurgents abducted about 20 South Korean Christians who were on an evangelical mission to Afghanistan, sent to that country from the Saem-Mul Protestant Community Church near Seoul, South Korea on July 13, 2007. They were scheduled to return to Korea on July 23, 2007.
In its report, ICC says: "They were traveling on a charter bus from Kandahar to the capital Kabul, when the armed insurgents stopped the bus 110 miles (175 km) south of Kabul in the Qarabagh district of the Ghazni province. A local Taliban commander named Mohammad Sharif has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping."
The ministry reports the Korean embassy has launched a search operation and has begun negotiations with the Taliban kidnappers who have demanded the release of Taliban prisoners in Afghan prisons.
ICC Policy Analyst for South Asia, Jeremy Sewall, said: "This immediately made me think of when the Taliban kidnapped American missionaries Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry in 2001 and held them in harsh prisons for three months.
"In fact, it was in the very same area of Afghanistan that these two kidnappings happened. While Mercer and Curry's story ended happily, it was only because anti-Taliban forces attacked the prison. Under the Taliban, it is absolutely illegal to preach Christianity. This courageous South Korean missions team is going to experience the ultimate test of their faith. I want to make an urgent appeal to all concerned parties to pray for this missions team. Pray that God would do a miracle and permit them to be released without the use of force."
ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
