KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 14 October 2003 — The superintendent of an Afghan prison has been suspended after 41 Taleban prisoners, including some key commanders, made an audacious tunnel escape last week, police said yesterday.
Government officials said the Friday night escape from the main prison in the volatile southern city of Kandahar could not have been carried out without help of prison staff and a Taleban official said the group paid bribes to arrange the escape.
Kandahar police chief Mohammad Hashim told Reuters the superintendent of the prison and several staff members were being questioned and replacements brought to the prison pending the outcome of the investigation.
A Taleban commander, Mullah Sabir, told Reuters on Sunday the group paid bribes of 100,000 afghanis ($2,000) to the prison authorities for each of the escapees. Hashim said he could not comment on the bribe claim until the investigation was complete.
Meanwhile, about 300 Afghans protested in Kabul yesterday against having been fired as part of reforms of the Defense Ministry, and accused top ministry officials of purging them on factional grounds.
The protesters, who gathered outside Karzai’s palace, said they represented about 35,000 Defense Ministry officials dismissed this year after having served for up to two decades.
Many said the dismissals targeted officials who were not members of the Mujahedeen factions that helped US-led troops topple the Taleban from power in 2001.
They accused Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, military chief of the anti-Taleban alliance, of a “purge” on factional grounds aimed at strengthening his power.
