Hunt is on for 1100 Afghan jail escapees
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hunt is on for 1100 Afghan jail escapees*
From correspondents in Kandahar
June 15, 2008 04:55am
Article from: Agence France-Presse
AFGHAN and international troops have launched a desperate hunt today for
more than 1100 prisoners NATO said escaped a jail in Afghanistan when
Taliban rebels blasted it open.
The Taliban said 400 of its own fighters escaped when the rebels
attacked the facility in the southern city of Kandahar late yesterday
with suicide bombs before shooting the guards.
Afghan authorities put the number of prisoners who fled one of the
country's biggest jails at 886, more than 380 of whom were Taliban.
The rebels said they spent two months planning the attack, which deputy
justice minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said was their most
sophisticated yet.
"A massive operation is underway to find the escaped inmates. The Afghan
security forces are searching for them within the city and along the
main and secondary roads,'' Mr Hashimzai said.
"Afghanistan national security forces and ISAF forces have cordoned off
the area to re-establish security and recapture the escapees,'' General
Carlos Branco, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance
Force, said.
"More than 1100 prisoners were able to escape,'' he said.