Hundreds of prisoners escape in Taliban jail attack

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Taliban insurgents freed hundreds of prisoners including hardline militants in a brazen assault on a jail in northwest Pakistan that was bombarded with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, officials said Tuesday, July 30.

At least 13 people including six police, four prisoners and two attackers were killed in the overnight assault which triggered a 3-hour gun battle between security forces and militants disguised in police uniforms, they said.

“A total of 243 prisoners have escaped, six of them were later arrested by police,” senior government official Mushtaq Jadoon told private TV channel ARY News, adding that “30 among the escaped prisoners were hardcore militants”.

The attack targeted the Central Prison in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, close to the lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents are active.

A security official said the jail held up to 5,000 prisoners including around 300 militants involved in attacks on security forces and sectarian killings.

Jadoon said the fighters had planted dozens of explosive devices in the jail which were later defused by bomb disposal experts.

“Police and other law enforcing agencies have cleared the jail,” he said, adding authorities had imposed a curfew on the city and asked residents to stay at home.

“Through media, we appeal to the people to stay at home. It is to avoid any damage if army, police and paramilitary take any action,” he added.

Jadoon said around 50 to 60 militants managed to enter the jail as others fired rockets from outside.

“First they destroyed a police armored vehicle parked at the front gate,” he said, adding that two policemen were killed in the initial rocket attack.

Jadoon said that one attacker was shot as he tried to run away.

“Police killed one militant who was trying to flee and who opened fire on police near the jail,” he said.

In a reminder of the enormous security challenges facing Pakistan, the violence broke out just hours before the nation’s lawmakers began voting for the country’s new president.

The new head of state will replace outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari, who is ending a five-year term. His party lost May’s general elections and his successor is likely to be Mamnoon Hussain, a close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the jail attack.

“Some 150 Taliban, including 60 suicide bombers, attacked the Central Prison and managed to free about 300 prisoners,” Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP by telephone.

Provincial prisons chief Khalid Abbas said the gunfight raged for three hours, with militants wearing police uniforms entering the facility after bombing its outer wall and throwing hand grenades at prison guards.

After the battle abated, security forces searched the prison which was plunged into darkness by an electricity outage, and counted inmates by flashlight to determine how many had escaped, he said.

“At least 13 people have been killed and 8 injured,” Abbas told AFP.

“Six of them were policemen, one civilian and two attackers. Militants also killed four prisoners inside the jail,” he said.

A security official in the city said militants arrived in more than a dozen vehicles and that among the escapees were two Taliban commanders.

“Militants also torched jail records and an office,” the official told AFP, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to media.

Residents in Dera Ismail Khan reported hearing loud blasts and gunfire, and said the electricity supply to several parts of the city had also been suspended.

A local police official said he saw militants carrying rocket launchers and firing at the jail.

“Militants were firing rockets at the jail and I also heard gunfire from inside the building,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Shaukat Yousafzai, spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, confirmed the army had been called in to quell the militant attack.

Pakistan is battling a Taliban-led domestic insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians and security personnel since 2007.

Washington considers the border tribal areas a major hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan. – Rappler.com