From the Voice of America: Afghan and foreign troops have launched a massive manhunt to recapture hundreds of prisoners, including suspected Taliban militants, who escaped a central prison in southern Afghanistan after a raid by Taliban insurgents on Friday night. Authorities say an investigation into the incident is underway and some prison officials are also being questioned to see if they had played any role. A Taliban spokesman told reporters by telephone from an undisclosed location that 30 insurgents and two suicide bombers took part in the Friday night attack on the prison in the southern city of Kandahar. The commando-style assault began with a fuel tanker loaded with explosives hitting the main gate while another suicide bomber blew up the back wall of the facility. The powerful explosions are said to have instantly killed at least 15 security guards and wounded many others. Afghan Deputy Justice Minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai says that heavily armed Taliban militants then stormed the compound and helped prisoners escape... Afghan officials say that there were nearly 1,200 prisoners, including up to 400 suspected Taliban militants, before the attack, and most of them are said to have been freed by the attackers... Under a program agreed to last year to transfer all local prisoners from U.S detention, the U.S. military has handed over an unspecified number of suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan custody.
Rico says this was a perfect opportunity for a nighttime assault by Apache helicopters; a little night-vision equipment and some heavy machine guns, and this bullshit would have been stopped fast...
14 June 2008
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