Jailbreak shows govt’s weakness: opposition alliance

KABDUL (PAN movement, showed negligence on the part of the authorities concerned, an opposition alliance said on Wednesday.

The jailbreak that led to the escape of hundreds of inmates, including rebel commanders, would further encourage the insurgents, the Hope and Change Coalition said.

“We consider recent events such as the attack on the Ministry of Defence and the Kandahar jailbreak the weakness of the government that lacks clear policy on security. The incidents show official lenience towards fighters,” the coalition said in a statement.

In the wee hours of Monday, hundreds of prisoners fled the jail through a 360-metre-long tunnel dug by the fighters. The passage linked a nearby house in the Sarpuza area to a cell of political prisoners.

Two of the 488 political prisoners, who escaped after the Taliban tunneled into the high-security jail, were killed and 64 others rearrested during a subsequent Afghan-ISAF search operation.

“Such an incident could not happen without the complicity of security officials,” the coalition, demanding a thoroughgoing investigation against the relevant officials.

Without firing and trying the negligent officials, the security system could not be streamlined, said the opposition alliance, headed by former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

On Tuesday, some MPs blamed security officials for involvement in the major security breach and decided to send a high-level delegation to Kandahar City to probe the jailbreak.

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