Police Chief Fired After 32 Inmates Escape Afghan Jail

[News_Editor]

Police chief fired after 32 inmates escape Afghan jail < br />

2012-06-10 03:04:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

SAR-E-PUL CITY, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A senior police chief and a prison director were fired on Saturday after more than 30 prisoners escaped during a suspected Taliban jailbreak in northern Afghanistan, the government said. Several prisoners have since been recaptured.

The jailbreak began on late Thursday evening when a group of prisoners detonated an explosive device inside the central prison in northern Sar-e-Pul province, destroying a key wall which allowed them to escape. Gunmen then attacked the jail from the outside, clashing with security guards.

Provincial officials said five people were killed, including three inmates, a police officer and one of the gunmen, while around 30 others were injured. It is believed 32 prisoners managed to escape the facility, including Taliban militants, but 18 of them were recaptured by Saturday afternoon.

"Details of the operation state that a group of Mujahideen (Muslim fighters) initially attacked the surrounding enemy security posts while a second group proceeded towards the main prison wall, blew a hole with explosives and overran the check post inside," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said. He claimed Taliban fighters blew up the prison's wall, but Afghan officials said inmates had likely smuggled the explosive device inside the facility.

The Taliban spokesman claimed it was able to free 170 militants, a figure which was rejected by Afghan officials. "170 Mujahideen inmates, including governors and group commanders, were freed and transferred to a safe location," he said. "This successful operation demonstrates that the enemy deeply lacks the moral and military skills despite being deeply entrenched and still failing in protecting the prison."

In response to the dramatic jailbreak, the Afghan Interior Ministry said it had fired several officials, including the police chief and prison director for Sar-e-Pul province, for alleged negligence of duty. Also fired was the police chief for the Tagab district of central Kapisa province, but other details were not immediately released.

In April 2011, a total of 474 Taliban fighters and one criminal managed to escape from the Sarposa prison in Kandahar province, which is the birthplace and main stronghold of the Taliban. Afghan officials said prisoners had dug a 360 meters (1,181 feet)-long underground tunnel. A Taliban spokesman said preparations for the jailbreak had taken some five months.

The prison break last year was the largest of its kind since June 2008, when Taliban insurgents drove a truck filled with explosives into the main gate of another prison in Kandahar province. The co-ordinated attack allowed more than 1,200 inmates to escape, among them at least 350 Taliban fighters.

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