Afghanistan ? A purported Taliban spokesman warned Friday that some of the 22 South Korean hostages were in bad health, saying hours after the kidnappers’ latest deadline passed that the captives were crying and worried about their future.

In eastern Afghanistan, two NATO soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in a major clash with militants in a high mountain area where American soldiers do most of the fighting.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the kidnappers, told The Associated Press by phone that the group still insisted on exchanging Taliban prisoners for the captives, who could be killed if the demand was not met. Ahmadi spoke several hours after the passage of the most recent Taliban deadline but said the militia had not set a new one.