Taliban warns Seoul against sending more troops to Afghanistan

Dec 9, 2009, 6:48 GMT

Kabul - The Taliban on Wednesday warned the South Korean government against sending 500 soldiers to Afghanistan to take part in the fight against insurgents, saying Seoul must be prepared for 'bad consequences' if the troops are deployed.

South Korea had around 200 troops in Afghanistan until late 2007 as part of the international coalition forces that toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001. It withdrew its forces after Taliban kidnapped 21 Korean Christian missionaries.

In return for the release of 19 hostages, Seoul 'had promised to pull out its soldiers from Afghanistan and will never try to send their forces again in future,' a Taliban statement emailed to media said. The insurgents killed two hostages before releasing the rest in August 2007.

'If they send their forces to Afghanistan and break their promise, then they should also be prepared for bad consequences,' the statement said, adding that the Taliban 'will never resort to a soft approach anymore.'

South Korea officially announced it would send up to 350 soldiers to protect around 100 civilian reconstruction workers by next year, but other NATO leaders have said its contribution would be around 500 troops.

The Korean deployment would be part of 7,000 reinforcements from more than 20 non-US countries to be sent to Afghanistan by mid-2010. US President Barack Obama has also ordered 30,000 additional American soldiers to join the 68,000 US troops already stationed there.

The reinforcements would bring the total of international troops in Afghanistan to nearly 150,000 - the largest foreign military presence since 2001.