KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 12 October 2003 — Forty-one Taleban prisoners tunneled out of jail in southern Afghanistan in a dramatic escape that is embarrassing for the government and presents yet another security headache in the troubled region.
The break-out from the main jail in the volatile southern city of Kandahar occurred on Friday night, the city’s security chief Gen. Salem told Reuters. He said all the prisoners were from one barracks of the jail, which houses some 400 prisoners.
“Last night, in the middle of the night, about 40 prisoners escaped through a 30-meter tunnel,” he said. “They included some important Taleban — one was the brother of Maulvi Obaidullah.”
Obaidullah was Taleban defense minister and has evaded capture since the hard-line regime was overthrown by US-led forces two years ago. In June, he was named as part of a 10-man leadership council by shadowy Taleban leader Mullah Omar.
Taleban spokesman Haji Abdul Latif told Reuters there were a total of 41 escapees. He said Obaidullah’s bother was Maulvi Abdullah.
Kandahar governor Yusuf Pashtun said five or six of the escapees were “important” Taleban figures, including Obaidullah’s brother and another named Aziz Agha, who had carried out many attacks in recent months.
He said the prisoners, who had been kept in chains, must have had the assistance of prison guards as they had tunneled out an estimated 15 truckloads of earth.
“They must have had help,” he told Reuters.
Latif insisted the prisoners acted alone.
Kandahar province, which borders Pakistan, was the birthplace of the Taleban and has been the scene of many recent guerrilla attacks that have curtailed aid and reconstruction.
In late August, officials said the jail on the outskirts of the city was holding 50 to 60 “political inmates”, a term usually used to describe Taleban members.
Some of that group were interviewed at the time by Reuters and all said they came from neighboring Pakistan, which Kabul accuses of sheltering Taleban guerrillas and leaders.
The Taleban have been blamed for a surge in violence across Afghanistan since August in which more than 300 people have died, including aid workers, government soldiers and police, US troops and many guerrillas.
News of the escape comes days after President Hamid Karzai and the US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad denied reports that former Taleban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil had been freed from US custody for facilitating talks with Taleban officials in Kandahar.
