By NNN-Agencies,
Kabul : Afghan and foreign troops were hunting on Saturday hundreds of prisoners, including militants, who escaped the main prison in southern Kandahar city after a raid by Taliban insurgents, the government said.
Authorities have also launched a probe to find out if any government officials were involved in the commando-style attack by several dozen Taliban fighters under darkness on Friday.
So far none of the prisoners have been tracked down, deputy justice minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, said, adding that “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.
He could not say how many had managed to escape, adding there were casualties among police, the Taliban and prisoners from a clash following the attack which began with a suicide bomber driving a truck into the jail gate.
Several dozen Taliban, armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles then stormed the mud-built compound and started to free the prisoners which apart from militants included women and suspected criminals.
Some high ranking Taliban field commanders were also among those who have managed to escape, a politician said from Kandahar, the main stronghold of the Taliban
“Government officials are busy finding out what really happened. We are trying to find out that if there was any inside help,” Hashimzai said.
Dozens of police and army soldiers were deployed outside the badly damaged prison.
A pile of rubble caused from the collapse of two towers of the jail along with its broken gate could be seen.
The attack came a day after international donors pledged more than $20 billion for Afghanistan where over 60,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military as well as some 150,000 Afghan forces are trying to defeat the Taliban-led insurgents.