Kandahar, April 27: Authorities said on Tuesday that they have recaptured 65 prisoners who were among about 500 inmates who escaped in an audacious Taliban-led jailbreak in southern Afghanistan.
The prisoners, mostly insurgents, escaped overnight on Sunday through a kilometre-long tunnel that the Taliban said took them five months to dig into the prison in Kandahar city, the heartland of the Islamist insurgency.
A manhunt was launched to recapture the escapees who, according to the Taliban, included more than 100 rebel commanders.
“Afghan national security and ISAF forces launched a huge searching operation right after the prisoners escaped and have massive civilian support and positive results,” Kandahar provincial authorities said in a statement. “Joint security forces have recaptured 65 of the prisoners who escaped from Kandahar prison.”
More than 130,000 international troops, mainly from the United States, are in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban and other insurgents.
–Agencies–