The remaining 21 abducted South Koreans in Afghanistan are still alive and the group holding them was hopeful its demands for the government to release militant fighters would be met, a purported Taliban spokesman said Wednesday.

Protesters shout slogans in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul demanding U.S. help in returning of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan.
(Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the militants, had previously set a deadline of noon (3:30 a.m. ET) Wednesday for at least eight jailed Taliban fighters to be released. He had warned the group would kill the Christian aid workers unless the government agreed to their demands.

But after the deadline passed, Ahmadi spoke to the Associated Press and Reuters from an unknown location and said no harm had been done to the hostages.

He also said two of the women being held were seriously ill and could die. Most of the other hostages are reported to be sick.

Meanwhile, the Afghan army dropped leaflets in the area where officials believe the hostages are located, warning residents of upcoming military action.  But the military said the mission wasn't connected to the hostages and denied earlier media reports claiming a rescue attempt had been launched.

Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said the leaflets were dropped in order to avoid civilian casualties.

"This operation has no relation to the Korean kidnapping case," he said.

The leaflets did not say when or where the operation would be launched.

'We will hold on to any small hope'

The militants have extended several previous deadlines without consequences, but killed 29-year-old Shim Sung-min on Monday after a deadline passed. His body, with a gunshot wound to the head, was found along a road in Andar district. 

The developments came after Afghanistan said for the first time it will not release insurgent prisoners in any potential exchange for the Christian aid workers, which has been the militants' key demand throughout negotiations.

Earlier Wednesday, the hostages' family members pleaded with U.S. officials to intervene in negotiations. They met for an hour with U.S. embassy officials in Seoul visit and were told their message would be passed along to Washington.

South Koreans watch TV screen showing the kidnapped South Koreans in Afghanistan at a railway station in Seoul, Tuesday.
(Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)

"We will hold on to any small hope to save them," Ryu Haeng-sik, 36, husband of hostage Kim Yoon-yong, 35, told the Associated Press outside the embassy in central Seoul, his eyes red from weeping and fatigue.

Both the families and the South Korean government have insisted that previous international practice in dealing with abductions be set aside.

The South Koreans were kidnapped while riding a bus July 19 on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. They are the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai faced heavy criticism when he approved the release of five Taliban prisoners earlier this year to free an Italian journalist held hostage. He subsequently vowed not to repeat such a deal.

With files from the Associated Press