8 inmates escape in Herat jailbreak

HERATCITY (PAN): Eight inmates have escaped from the Kahsan district prison in western Herat province, a police official said on Saturday.

Two of the escapees were re-arrested during a subsequent search operation, the official told Pajhwok Afghan News on condition of anonymity.

He said jail breakout took place late on Friday night and the ensuing search lasted several hours. It was not yet clear whether prison authorities were complicit in the escape, he added.

A prison department official, who did not to be named, confirmed the jailbreak and said the runaways were ordinary inmates.

On Friday, the Kandahar central prison chief and seven other officials were arrested on the charge of complicity in last week’s massive jailbreak that saw hundreds of inmates fleeing.

More than 450 prisoners, including insurgent commanders, managed to flee through the 560-metre tunnel in the wee hours of Monday. The fighters dug the underground passage from a house in the Sarpuza neighbourhood to a cell of political prisoners.

Prison chief Ghulam Dastagir Mayar was 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.

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