国际新闻：No word as deadline passes for S.Korean hostages

ANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Airstrikes and clashes in southern Afghanistan killed more than 75 militants in a new NATO offensive, as the threatened deadline for the lives of 23 South Korean hostages passed with no resolution.

Korean negotiators, accompanied by Afghan elders and clerics, met the kidnappers in person in Ghazni province Tuesday, according to a provincial official who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The official said the militants were demanding monetary payment for the release of the hostages. Previously, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said the militants wanted 23 Taliban prisoners released in exchange for the hostages' lives.

Ahmadi late Tuesday said the negotiations were in the "final stage" but he provided no other details.

Villagers in Ghazni meanwhile held a rally demanding the release of the Korean hostages release, said Mohammad Zaman, the deputy provincial police chief. Some carried banners and shouted slogans. An AP Television News reporter saw 100 to 150 villagers demonstrating.

The South Korean hostages, including 18 women, were kidnapped on Thursday while riding on a bus through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, Afghanistan's main thoroughfare.

Ahmadi also said the militants are still holding one German and four Afghan hostages, despite his claims Saturday that those hostages had been shot and killed.

In southern Helmand province, Afghan and US-led coalition troops called in airstrikes after being ambushed by militants Monday, the US-led coalition said.

At least 36 insurgents were killed in the fighting Monday, but no Afghan or coalition troops were hurt, the coalition said Tuesday.

In neighboring Uruzgan province, police clashed for three days with militants blocking the road leading to Kandahar province, leaving 26 militants and two policemen dead, said Wali Jan, the Uruzgan deputy highway police chief. NATO-led and Afghan army troops joined the battle Tuesday, reopening the road for civilian traffic, he said.

Another 13 suspected militants were killed in Kandahar province, the Defense Ministry said.

The battles took place in remote and dangerous parts of Afghanistan, and the death tolls could not be independently confirmed.

NATO-led troops, meanwhile, announced a new offensive in Helmand province. The mission aims to clear insurgents from Gereshk district to help foster economic projects in the world's largest opium-producing area.