A jailbreak by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan has freed hundreds of prisoners Monday, local officials said.
A suicide bomber in military uniform set of his explosives at the gate of the jail in eastern Ghazni province in the early hours, paving the way for the rest of the fighters to storm the jail.
Provincial Deputy Governor Ali Ahmadi told Anadolu Agency that all four attackers were killed, as were four policemen guarding the gates. Another seven policemen were injured during the fighting within the jail compound.
“The attackers were in military uniform and were well equipped,” Ahmadi told Anadolu agency. “They have broken the locks and freed 355 prisoners.”
The Afghan interior ministry also confirmed the numbers, though they were disputed by the Taliban, who claimed there had been ten suicide bombers alongside the other fighters.
Their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed only three attackers were killed, while the others escaped with the prisoners.
The interior minstry said the security forces have launched an operation to find the escapees.
A local official said on condition of anonymity that some of the most dangerous inmates -- 150 were reportedly imrpisoned as threats to national security -- were removed by the intelligence agencies before the jail break.
In 2008 Taliban fighters freed around 1,000 inmates from a prison in southern Kandahar province by driving a truck full of explosives into the gate and killing 15 guards.
