Taleban hostage-takers shot dead one of twenty-three South Korean missionaries being held by them yesterday and threatened to kill the others during the night unless their demands were met.

The male hostage was shot in the head, chest and stomach, apparently after a botched attempt by the South Korean Government to pay a ransom. His body was discovered close to where the hostages are being held in the southern Afghan province of Ghazni.

The militants have demanded the release of 23 Taleban prisoners in exchange for the safe return of the Koreans, and appeared finally to have lost patience. “Since Kabul’s administration did not listen to our demand and did not free our prisoners, the Taleban shot dead a male Korean hostage,” said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman. He repeated the demands and said that more hostages would be killed.

Reports suggest that South Korea attempted to pay a substantial ransom but that during the handover the Taleban became nervous and failed to appear. Haji Mohammad Sadiq, the subgovernor of the Qarabagh district, told The Times: “They tried to pay them a ransom. They arranged a meeting with the Taleban, but the Taleban got scared and did not show up.”

According to Mr Sadiq the hostage was shot “because he was sick and couldn’t keep up, and was slowing the group down”.

To avoid detection and reduce the risk of coalition forces storming their hideout, the Taleban have split the hostages into four or five groups and are moving them about.

Earlier reports that eight hostages – one man and seven women – had been freed and were sheltering in a US army base were denied. “Talks continue but no one has been freed so far,” said Mirajuddin Pattan, the Governor of Ghazni province.

It also emerged yesterday that militants had opened fire and tried to kill Waheedullah Mujadadi, the village elder in charge of the Afghan delegation pushing for the release of the Christians, as he tried to negotiate their freedom.

At the time of the attack he was in a buffer zone between Taleban and government-controlled areas. “They were trying to kidnap me as well or kill me,” he said. “I am in a safe area now.”

The news that Afghan and Korean officials tried to pay a ransom was met with dismay by Afghan politicians. “The Taleban will buy weapons and ammunition with this money and they will use it against Afghan and international forces,” Ali Mohammad, a member of parliament from Logar province, told The Times. “Giving money to the Taleban means we recognise their struggle and their fight.”

Hamidullah Tukhi, a member from Zabul province, said: “The Afghan Government is weak. That is loud and clear. But Isaf [the UN security force] have enough resources to send commandos over there.

“The Taleban would flee; never in Afghan history would they kill women. If we deal with money we give the Taleban legitimacy.”

President Karzai has pledged not to exchange prisoners for hostages after being criticised at home and abroad for releasing five Taleban from jail in March in exchange for an Italian reporter. The President and ministers have remained silent throughout the latest incident.

Kidnappings have made travel outside big cities risky for the thousands of foreign aid workers and United Nations staff in Afghanistan and may weaken support for military involvement among the more than 30 nations with troops in the country.

— A British soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Helmand province yesterday. The soldier, from The 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, was travelling in the Army’s new lightly armoured, highly mobile Vector vehicle. Two other soldiers were seriously wounded. The attack brings the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 65.

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