An Afghan MP on Tuesday claimed as many as 800 ISIS (Daesh) and Taliban prisoners are on the loose after escaping during Sunday’s deadly prison attack in Jalalabad.

Abdul Karim Karimi, a Member of Parliament, said: “1,700 prisoners were inside the jail during the attack, they all attempted to escape. Out of which, 500 of them failed to escape, whereas 800 more prisoners including Daesh, Taliban, and criminals fled.”

According to officials, prisoners being held in that particular jail were political prisoners and criminals. Among them were Taliban and Daesh militants.

The Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Ataullah Khogyani, confirmed that hundreds of prisoners escaped but that the matter will be investigated in order to ascertain whether there was any negligence on the part of prison staff.

“So far, hundreds of prisoners including Daesh, Taliban, and other criminals are missing,” Khogyani said.
Local officials did not give details as to the identity of the missing prisoners but said search operations were underway in a bid to capture the escaped convicts.

Sources meanwhile added that out of five prisoners killed in Sunday’s attack, three of them were Taliban commanders.

Meanwhile, Daesh sent out letters overnight to residents of Jalalabad warning them not to hand over any CCTV footage they might have that recorded events outside their shops or houses during the time of the siege.

Sunday’s prison attack started with a car bomb just after 6.30pm and lasted for at least 18 hours before security forces were able to bring the situation under control.

Soon after militants stormed the facility, Daesh claimed responsibility. Officials said 11 Daesh militants had been involved.

While the siege was underway, security forces also raided a property in Behsoud district in Nangarhar and seized hundreds of weapons and military hardware.

The prison siege started just a day after Afghanistan’s intelligence services announced the Afghan special forces had killed a high-ranking Daesh member in an operation in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

A statement late Saturday by the National Directorate of Security said the slain militant was Assadullah Orakzai, an intelligence leader for the IS affiliate (Daesh) in Afghanistan. The statement said he was killed near Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. IS has its headquarters in the province.

Orakzai was suspected of being involved in several deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets in Afghanistan.

At least 10 attackers were killed in the almost day-long battle between Afghan security forces and Daesh militants in Jalalabad city.

The attack carried out against the city’s prison and a building opposite the facility, lasted for almost 24 hours before the area was declared clear of militants.

According to Nangarhar officials, five prisoners were also killed in the attack, and six more wounded while 40 families were rescued from the building opposite the prison, the ministry of defense confirmed on Monday night.

Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, meanwhile said the death toll was 30 and 50 wounded. This included civilians, security forces, and prisoners.

The rampage started on Sunday evening just after 6.30 pm when Daesh militants detonated a car bomb outside the prison.

After blasting the gates open, they stormed the facility. In the chaos, hundreds of prisoners escaped.

An estimated 1,700 prisoners were being held in the facility at the time of the attack – many of the Daesh fighters.

The gunbattle between militants and security forces lasted about 20 hours. Added to this, security manpower had to be diverted in order to round up the escapees.

Some prisoners who had been arrested told Ariana News that six attackers entered the prison and ordered them to leave. The prisoners were told that if they did not leave they would be killed by the assailants.

A security source said that the prisoners who escaped included Taliban members, Daesh militants, and criminals.

Earlier in the day, Zahir Adil, a spokesman for the provincial health directorate, told Ariana News that 13 of those wounded were in a critical condition.

This attack started just a day after Afghanistan’s intelligence services announced the Afghan special forces had killed a high-ranking Daesh member in an operation in eastern Afghanistan.
A statement late Saturday by the National Directorate of Security said the slain militant was Assadullah Orakzai, an intelligence leader for the IS affiliate (Daesh) in Afghanistan. The statement said he was killed near Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. IS has its headquarters in the province.
Orakzai was suspected of being involved in several deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets in Afghanistan.