Taliban Helps 500 Prisoners Break Out of Afghanistan Jail
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Taliban guerrillas tunneled into the main jail in Kandahar, the southern Afghan city at the center of their fight with U.S. forces, releasing about 500 prisoners including insurgent commanders.
The militants dug a 360-meter (394-yard) tunnel from a safe house into the prison before evacuating 541 jailed fighters last night, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a phone interview. Kandahar prison director Ghulam Dastir Mayar said by phone that about 470 men escaped, “including those higher-ranking Taliban officials” who were in custody.