Taliban-South Korean Talks Break Down

The Taliban continue to hold 19 South Koreans hostage, and the stumbling blocks are truly predictable. The Taliban want prisoners released from Afghan prisons and a ransom, while the South Koreans aren't exactly going to provide them - and aren't in a position to do much except provide a ransom because the Afghan government and US forces aren't going to engage in a prisoner swap.

"The negotiations have failed. The Taliban leading council is making its decision now on the fate of the hostages," said the spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi.

Face-to-face talks between Taliban negotiators and a South Korean delegation in Ghazni, the capital of Ghazni province where the 23 Christian aid workers were abducted nearly a month ago, ended Thursday with no result, he said.

Ahmadi said more talks did not seem "probable" as Taliban demands for the release of some of their men from prisoner in exchange for the hostages' liberty had not been met by the Afghan government.

"Further talks will not achieve anything, the Koreans told us that the Americans and the Afghan government are not ready to release our prisoners," he said.

The Taliban freed two women hostages on Monday in what they said was a "gesture of good will". The two were the first to be released since the South Koreans were seized on July 19 on the main highway south of the capital Kabul.

Two of the men in the group have been murdered, and the Taliban have threatened to shoot more if their demands are not met.

Meanwhile, a German woman was apparently kidnapped by masked gunmen in Kabul. The Taliban are hell-bent upon causing as much damage to the country as possible, and kidnappings are a very profitable way to gain media attention.

The NFWP Taliban and the Afghan Taliban are targeting NGOs and foreigners - knowing that they could kidnap them for profit or to secure releases of terrorists in prison. Expect to see the Taliban in Pakistan engage in kidnappings as well.

However, the Taliban will also resort to car bombings. 11 were killed in one such attack - including women and children:

In southern Afghanistan, a suicide car bomber detonated near a convoy of private security forces, killing four Afghan guards and 11 civilians, including women and children, police said.

The suicide car bombing went off west of Kandahar city and also wounded six other guards as well as 20 civilians who were in two minivans passing by the convoy, Kandahar provincial police chief Syed Agha Saqib said.

Three women and two children were among those killed. Women's and children's shoes were scattered about the area. A stuffed animal toy was left in one of the destroyed minivans.

Saqib said the guards worked for U.S. Protection and Investigations security firm. Company representatives could not immediately be reached to confirm the attack on employees.

In neighboring Helmand province, insurgents holed up in buildings and trenches attacked Afghan police and coalition forces Friday near Fire Base Robinson, the coalition said in a statement. Nearly a dozen suspected militants were killed in the ensuing battle.

It was the third insurgent attack on the joint forces in as many days, the statement said. No Afghan or coalition forces were wounded in the three days of fighting.