Afghanistan Times
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29 people killed, over 50 wounded
Daesh complex attack led to a mass jailbreak as hundreds of imprisoned terrorists escaped
By Farhad Naibkhel
KABUL: At least 29 people were killed after affiliates of the Islamic State, also known as Daesh extremist group, carried a major attack on a large prison in Jalalabad, the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province—which the extremist group claimed has released hundreds of prisoners.
The Afghan security forces killed all 11 Daesh assailants involved in the complex attack that lasted for over 22 hours, security officials said on Monday.
At least 29 people, including security forces, civilians and prisoners, were killed and an unknown number of prisoners escaped.
Provincial Governor Spokesman, Attaullah Khogiani said that initially a car bombing ripped open in front of prison, paving the way for a number of armed insurgents to storm inside the jail.
“The attack was ended with killing all 11 aggressors by the Afghan security forces,” he added.
According to him, 40 families, who were trapped in their houses, had been rescued and evacuated to the safe places.
A large number of prisoners tried to escape during the clash. “1,025 prisoners were recaptured when they were trying to escape – and 430 others who were trapped inside the jail were rescued,” the spokesman said.
During the attack, 1,793 prisoners were inside the prison – 430 of them trapped –1,025 were recaptured and the remaining is still missing.
The ministry of defense said that the clearance operation was conducted slowly with caution in order to protect civilians living in the area in residential plots and the prisoners inside the jail.
A delegation led by the Army Chief of Staff. General Yaseen Zia arrived in Nangarhar on Monday to assess and control the situation.
The National Security and Defense Forces (NSDF) have cleared the building in which terrorists had positioned as well as cleared prison from terrorists, the defense ministry said.
According to the ministry’s statement, 10 terrorists, who were armed with light and heavy weapons, were killed.
“The Afghan forces have rescued 40 families from the building, where terrorists had taken position,” the statement mentioned.
President Ashrf Ghani in a statement called Jalalabad attack a “barbaric” act and a humanitarian crime in contrast with all the Islamic values.
President had once again insisted over a ceasefire and reduction of violence, saying that terrorists by conducting such attack can’t weaken people’s will for achieving peace and stability.
