Afghan mass jail escape had ‘inside help’: Minister
April 27th, 2011 - 1:52 pm ICT by ANI
Kabul, Apr 27 (ANI): Afghanistan’s Justice Minister has said the 488 inmates who escaped from Kandahar’s main prison through a tunnel, must have received inside help from prison guards or officials.
Habibullah Ghaleb told President Hamid Karzai that much of the blame for the Taliban-led breakout lay with local security forces and foreign troops.
“The mass escape of the prisoners from one tunnel indicates inside help and facilitation from the prison,” the BBC quoted Ghaleb, as saying.
Ghaleb said the house where the 360m-long tunnel began was searched 10 weeks ago but nothing was reported. Only 71 prisoners have been recaptured since a manhunt was launched.
Ghaleb also criticized Canadian and US troops who have been responsible for security improvements to the prison. He asked how they had failed to notice the tunnel was being dug underneath their feet.
“The house where the tunnel was found was searched by security forces two-and-a-half months ago. Earth or soil dug out of the tunnel must have been moved and should not have been missed,” he said.
In June 2008, the Taliban orchestrated the escape of prisoners at Sarposa, including hundreds of militants, in an attack that killed 15 guards. A suicide bomber was used to blast open the gates. (ANI)
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Tags: afghan, afghanistan, bbc, gates, hamid karzai, inmates, justice minister, kabul, kandahar, local security, manhunt, militants, president hamid karzai, prison guards, prisoners, security forces, security improvements, soil, suicide bomber, taliban