A murky Taliban splinter group holding three UN hostages in Afghanistan for three weeks was silent after the hostages’ families plead for their freedom, but the US military was hopeful they were alive and would be safely released.We continue to remain hopeful that Annetta Flanigan, Sheqipe Hebibi and Angelito Nayan, the three UN workers abducted in Kabul on the 28th will be released unharmed,” US military spokesman Major Scott Nelson told a press briefing. The three, who were snatched from busy lunchtime traffic in downtown Kabul had been in Afghanistan working on the country’s first presidential election won by President Hamid Karzai.Full Story