I thought you would like to know about this urgent campaign to free 23 South Korean aid workers, most of them young women, who have just been taken hostage by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The Taliban are threatening to execute them this week, an action that could trigger a mass evacuation of life-giving humanitarian aid from all of Afghanistan.
The situation is desperate, but there is hope. The Taliban are all from the ‘Pashtun’ ethnic group, and observe a strict code called Pashtunwali. This code demands, above all else: “hospitality to all, especially guests and strangers”. There are rumours of infighting among the Taliban over these kidnappings, because they clearly violate the code.
A global outcry for the Taliban to follow their own code would certainly be covered by media in Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Taliban are based – creating massive local pressure on them to free their prisoners. But these hostages are living under a 24 hour death sentence. We have seconds not minutes to act. Sign the petition below and then forward this email: