[Sohrab]

Some 540 members of the Taliban including military commanders have escaped from Kandahar prison via a 320 metre-long tunnel, Afghan government officials have confirmed to Al Jazeera.

A Taliban official on Monday also confirmed the overnight escape, boasting that the prison break had been "very well-planned" and that it was five months in the making, Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said.

According to a Taliban statement the tunnel was not dug by the inmates but by fighters outside the prison.

"Mujahideen started digging a 320 metre-long to the prison from the south side, which was completed after a five-month period, bypassing check posts and the Kandahar-Herat main highway leading directly to the political prison," the statement read.

"The tunnel reached its target last night, from where the prisoner Mujahideen were led away through the escape route by three previously informed inmates in a period of four-and-a-half hours, starting from 11pm last night and ending at 3:30am this morning. Mujahideen later on sent vehicles to the inmates who were led away to secure destinations."

"They all have made it safe to our centres and there was no fighting," Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said.

Ahmadi said that 106 were Taliban commanders while the rest were foot soldiers. Kandahar police said they had re-captured eight commanders so far.

The Taliban claim that the prison guards did not notice the escape until four hours after the operation was completed.

The prison in southern Afghanistan typically holds drug dealers as well as Taliban fighters captured by NATO forces, our correspondent said.

If number of escapees is correct then the break would constitute a "big success" for the Taliban and would "have a dramatic effect on the fight against the Taliban in the region," said Azimy.

Previous escapes

There have been previous escapes from this prison. In June 2008, Taliban fighters attacked the facility, blasting through its entrance and engaging in a gun battle with police.

Nearly all of the estimated 1,150 prisoners, including some 400 Taliban, escaped, according to Afghan officials.

A Taliban spokesperson said that two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the entrance of the gate to the prison before 30 Taliban fighters attacked and killed 16 policemen.

Kandahar prison was also the scene of a mass hunger strike by hundreds of inmates in May 2008 during which 47 inmates sewed their lips shut after complaining they had been tortured and denied fair trials.

Kandahar is seen as the birthplace of the Taliban movement and the city and surrounding area has been the scene of some of the worst fighting in Afghanistan.

[Sohrab]

http://english.aljaz...5410649746.html

[Parsistani]

It can´t be able that ca. 300 Taliban fighters escape from a new and modern prison. I am with 100% sure that either some of Karzai´s friends have their hands behind this or the local warlords who are close allies of his criminal brother. The escape should be just an alibi that it is not a political coup of these Pashtuns. During Amrullah Saleh there was not such things. He had his men, his eyes and ears from north to south. Now we know why he was fired from his position by this yellow pig Khar-Zai.

[Sohrab]

^^^ whatever it is, it is a big victory for the taliban.

[Parsistani]

Sohrab, on 25 April 2011 - 04:26 PM, said:

^^^ whatever it is, it is a big victory for the taliban.

Not really. All the prisoners are registered and can put back into jail. It´s just a question of time. It´s easy to find them. The only question is will Pashtun population, the so-called ''innocent'' and ''normal civilians'' work with the police and army or not. Even if they don´t, it doesn make really anything.

[قزلباش]

The irony is that the safest place for them was in the prison.

[Parsistani]

Didn´t I say someone from within is behind this coup? ... possibly ordered by Pashtunists and KharZai self to close himself with the Taliban since he is losing more and more power and his Mirwais Jan the tailed kid becoming day to day closer to get another immigrant.

[Sohrab]

off course they did it with the help of inside, and i had posted that link before. the irony is that the intelligence of coalition and ANA is almost zero in those areas, that is why they managed to escape in this large numbers.

[Sohrab]

The daring prison escape of nearly 500 Taliban through a tunnel that took months to dig could never have happened without Afghan officials turning a blind eye or actively collaborating, experts said.

Some went further, suggesting they may even have condoned the plot as a way of building bridges with the Taliban and furthering peace efforts by President Hamid Karzai's government as NATO troops start withdrawing.

Either way, analysts agreed the operation at Kandahar prison was a major win for the Taliban at the start of the Afghan fighting season, which Western officials see as key to assessing how far a U.S.-led troop surge has succeeded.

"This is a tremendous achievement for the Taliban because the Taliban were under heavy pressure in the greater Kandahar area ... and now they have been able to free some high-profile commanders," political analyst Haroun Mir said.

"It is a morale boost for them."

The breakout took place over several hours overnight Sunday.

http://www.military....m_todayinmil.nl

[Parsistani]

Kharzi´s family behind the coup!!!

[shinno]

lol, when i heard this in the news I soon realized it was an inside job. maybe its part of deal struck with the Taliban? who know. politics is a dirty game.

[Parsistani]

KharZai need them to establish a new Awghoo hegemony on us but these time Awghoos will get killed unhumanly by us.

[shinno]

lol kharzai is a drug dealer and oppurtunist. He is not a pashtun leader. He is a foreign puppet who can't move his tail without their order. How the hell can he work for pashtuns if he is controlled by Americans? kharzai has no respect among pashtuns except some of his supporters. he is not a legitimate pashtun leader nor are the Taliban.

[Parsistani]

He is a Pashtun leader.. like all the rest of the mfkers with their mio. of supporters....sell-out Pashtuns and infidels. You can deny that but he is your new BABA ... don´t worry. Americans lost the controll on him. That´s why this Awghan e Kmadarzai is calling for Taliban, his proud brothers and the sons of Kundad-hara. You can buy every sell-out Pashtun ... just the money need to be acceptable ...