 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Close to 500 Taliban prisoners have escaped from Kandahar prison in southern Afghanistan through a tunnel measuring hundreds of meters long, officials said on Monday. The Taliban claimed it had planned the huge jailbreak and that all of the escapees were members of the militant Islamist organization. "A tunnel hundreds of meters long was dug from the south of the prison into the prison and 476 political prisoners escaped last night," said prison director General Ghulam Dastageer Mayar. The acting police chief of Kandahar, Shair Shah Yousufzai, also confirmed the escape, saying "Sunday night some political prisoners broke out of the prison and have escaped." Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the militant Islamist group was responsible for the mass breakout. "Prisoners dug a 360-meter-long tunnel to the south of the prison. They started getting out of the prison at 11:00 pm Sunday night and by early morning on Monday, 541 prisoners escaped the prison," he said, "They all have made it safe to our centers." Ahmadi said that 106 were Taliban commanders while the rest were foot soldiers. The Taliban are known to exaggerate their claims, but this is still the second major escape in three years from Kandahar prison. In 2008, around 1,000 prisoners escaped after the Taliban used a truck bomb to blow open the gates. A statement from the Kandahar provincial governor's office insisted that "a number" of the prisoners had since been recaptured without giving precise figures. It confirmed that a search operation was underway to secure the other escapees. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was on standby to provide assistance, if requested to do so by Afghan officials. "We have no involvement at this point," said ISAF spokesman Major Michael Johnson in Kabul, "If we're asked to assist in any capacity, we would certainly be standing by to do that." Kandahar is seen as the birthplace of the Taliban movement and the city and its surrounding areas have seen some of the worst fighting in Afghanistan. AFP |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
