Senior officials detained over Kandahar jailbreak

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): The Kandahar central prison chief is among eight officials arrested on the charge of complicity in this week’s massive jailbreak that saw hundreds of inmates escape through a tunnel.

More than 450 prisoners, including insurgent commanders, managed to flee through the 560-metre tunnel in the wee hours of Monday, Governor Toryalai Weesa told a news conference after the embarrassing security breach.

The fighters dug the underground passage from a house in the Sarpuza neighbourhood of the provincial capital to a cell of political prisoners. “Imprisoned insurgents were helped by three inmates, who were informed in advance. The process took more than four hours to complete,” the Taliban said.

Prison chief Ghulam Dastagir Mayar has been arrested along with seven of his subordinates on the charge of conniving at the escape, a police official confided to Pajhwok Afghan News. Three police checkpoints’ commanders have also been sacked, he revealed.

The detainees are being investigated, according to the source, who said the fired police officers were still at large. However, they could be summoned for interrogations in case of need, the official added.

Meanwhile, the governor’s spokesman confirmed the arrests. However, Zalmay Ayubi refused to be drawn into details of the detainees’ designations. A high-level delegation is currently in Kandahar City, probing the incident. 

On Tuesday, lawmakers called for prosecuting security officials, including prison authorities, over the daring jailbreak. One senator accused prison guards and other provincial security officials of involvement in the incident.

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