Prisoners escape Afghan jail

Updated 14.40 Sat Jun 14 2008
Keywords: bomber, suicide, Taliban, raid, escape, break, jail, Afghanistan

Troops are searching for hundreds of prisoners who escaped a prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan after a raid by Taliban insurgents.

At least nine police were killed in Friday's attack, which began with a suicide bomber driving a truck into the jail's entrance.

At least nine police were killed in Friday's attack, which began with the blowing up of the jail's entrance by a suicide bomber driving a truck at it

Several dozen Taliban fighters, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles, were then said to have stormed the compound and started to free the prisoners which - apart from militants - included women and suspected criminals.

A probe has also been launched to investigate whether any government officials were involved in the raid.

Deputy justice minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, who could not say how many prisoners had managed to escape, said: "It was a very unprecedented attack and together with foreign forces, an operation has been launched to track down and arrest the prisoners."

Hashimzai said some 1,000 inmates, including up to 400 Taliban, were held in the prison before the attack.

Some high ranking Taliban field commanders were among those who have managed to escape, a politician said from Kandahar, the main stronghold of the Taliban who were ousted from power in 2001.

A state of emergency has been declared in the city.

Last month, scores of Taliban prisoners in Kandahar's jail resorted to several days of hunger strike, complaining of being badly treated.

Friday's attack was the most brazen by Taliban militants who have made a comeback since 2006, although the group in April tried to assassinate President Hamid Karzai as he was attending a military parade near the presidential palace in Kabul.

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