"Twenty-three Korean citizens, 18 women and five men, were very carelessly traveling in a chartered bus from Kabul to Kandahar yesterday, on the way to Kandahar their bus was stopped by armed men ... and they took them away," said Interior Minister spokesman Zemari Bashari.

He said the incident happened in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, some 175 km (110 miles) south of Kabul. "We are still investigating which organization they were with, and why they were traveling to Kandahar," he said.

Reuters reports that a Korean embassy official said a search operation and also negotiations were under way with the kidnappers, who were demanding the release of Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails. The Taliban said they had seized 18 Koreans.

"They are safe with us, we are investigating them and our demands and reaction will be announced later," said Taliban spokesman Said Yousuf Ahmadi by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said about 20 South Korean Christian volunteers were feared to have been kidnapped by Taliban insurgents, the news agency reported.

Last year, the South Korean government tried to stop a group of 2,000 Korean Christians traveling to Afghanistan for a peace conference, fearing for their safety. But 900 of them still came to Afghanistan, causing an uproar in the staunchly Muslim country -- where many accused them of being evangelical missionaries -- before they were all deported.

Afghanistan's ambassador to South Korea was later sacked for issuing the group with visas, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

South Korea has no combat troops in Afghanistan, but has a contingent of 200 engineers, doctors and medical staff.

Two Germans and six Afghans were abducted southwest of Kabul on Wednesday and are still missing, Reuters said.

"The German citizens are safe with us. Our demand is the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan and also the release of our prisoners," said Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi. Germany said it was aware of the Taliban claim.

"We will carefully and calmly pursue developments. All necessary steps have been taken. The emergency task force is working very intensively on a quick release of both men," a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The news agency also said that one German national was kidnapped in western Afghanistan this month, but was released unharmed after a few days and the Taliban kidnapped two French aid workers and three of their Afghan colleagues in southwestern Afghanistan in April, but later released them unharmed.

Afghanistan (fgn´stnä, fgänästän´) is a republic with a 2005 estimated population of 29,929,000. The country covers 249,999 sq mi (647,497 sq km) and is located in S central Asia. Afghanistan is bordered by Iran on the west, by Pakistan on the east and south, and by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan on the north; a narrow strip, the Vakhan (Wakhan), extends in the northeast along Pakistan to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The capital and largest city is Kabul.

** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.