A Taliban-imposed deadline on 23 South Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan passed Tuesday without any word from the militant organization on the fate of the foreigners.

Afghan police guard villagers in Ghazni province, who carry out a procession Tuesday calling for South Korean hostages to be freed.
(Associated Press)

The Taliban had imposed a deadline to start killing the 18 women and five men at 10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. It was reportedly the third deadline set by their Taliban captors since they were abducted last week.

Afghan security forces have surrounded a region in Ghazni province where about 70 armed militants are thought to be holding the hostages. The Taliban have warned any use of force by government troops will put the hostages at risk.

The South Korean nurses and English teachers were seized from a bus last Thursday while travelling along a main highway about 160 kilometres from the Afghan capital, Kabul. The group was taking part in an aid mission when they were abducted.

The Taliban have demanded South Korea withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan.

South Korean officials have said they'll remove the contingent of military engineers and medics at the end of the year, as originally planned.

On Tuesday, several dozen villagers from Ghazni rallied for the hostages to be released as Afghan elders reportedly continued their negotiations with members of the Taliban.

Elders leading the hostage negotiations met with the kidnappers Sunday and reported that the Koreans were healthy, said Khwaja Mohammad Sidiqi, the police chief of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province.

A delegation of eight Korean officials arrived in Kabul on Sunday and met with President Hamid Karzai to discuss the crisis.

German hostage fate unknown

The fate of more foreign hostages is unclear. Two German engineers and five Afghans were kidnapped last Wednesday from southern Afghanistan.

One of the Germans has reportedly been killed by his captors, while one Afghan managed to escape. The others are still being held.

There were reports on Monday that the German hostage believed dead was still alive, but those are not confirmed.

The Afghans and Germans were working on a dam project in southern Wardak province when they were seized.

Taliban officials have demanded Germany withdraw its roughly 3,000 soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

With files from the Associated Press