KABUL: An Afghan soldier held on suspicion of killing a NATO soldier from Slovakia escaped from prison and walked off a heavily guarded military base with the help of a guard, officials said Monday.
The escape will raise new questions about the capacity and professionalism of the Afghan Army as the remaining 100,000 foreign troops in the country prepare to leave next year. The soldier was arrested last Tuesday after opening fire on foreign troops. The Slovakian died and six other soldiers were wounded during the attack at a military base in the southern province of Kandahar. Officials said the Afghan soldier fled his prison cell on Sunday.
“An Afghan Army soldier who opened fire on Slovakian soldiers last week has run away from detention,” Gen. Abdul Hameed, the top Afghan Army commander in the south, told AFP.
The general said another soldier, who had guarded his prison cell, assisted his breakout and also absconded.
The pair managed to sneak off the base by pretending that the detainee was sick and needed to be taken to a military hospital, the general told AFP.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force said it had “full confidence” that the soldier would be re-arrested.
“We have full confidence in our Afghan partners, that they will do an investigation, they will be able to bring this individual back to custody,” said ISAF spokesman Brig. Gen. Heinz Feldmann.
Gen. Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, confirmed to reporters that an investigation had been launched.
The Taleban said the shooter, whom they named as Isanullah, had links to the Taleban and was helped by a fellow soldier to escape.
A local official said the guard — a fellow soldier — and the shooter walked out of the prison and hitched a lift on the base from a military truck, asking to be dropped off at the gate. “The driver agreed without realizing their identity. They simply walked off the base and disappeared,” he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Songs advocating the Taleban fight and suicide bombings had been found on his mobile phone during investigations, the official said.
“It appears that he was impressed by the Taleban, if he did not have a full link to the insurgents,” he told AFP.
The Taleban often claim that Afghan soldiers who kill their NATO allies are linked to the militant group.
Afghan escapes custody after killing NATO soldier
