Taliban storms Afghan jail, freeing hundreds of prisoners

Early Sunday, Taliban insurgents dressed as Afghan security forces attacked a prison right outside Ghazni, Afghanistan, 75 miles southwest of Kabul, allowing more than 400 prisoners to escape. More than 80 of those prisoners were recaptured, and 352 remain on the loose, said Mohammed Ali Ahmadi, Ghazni's deputy governor. Some of the escaped inmates were part of the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, but about 20 of the more dangerous inmates had been transferred to another prison the previous day, after a fight broke out, Ahmadi said.

The prison — which Reuters describes as a "mud fort" — was lightly guarded because if any trouble occurred, reinforcements were expected to arrive from Ghazni, just over 4 miles away. The Taliban mined the road to town, however, preventing reinforcements, Ahmadi said. "An army vehicle coming for reinforcements was blown up by a roadside bomb while trying to reach the prison." Four security guards were killed, he said, as were seven Taliban fighters.

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