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Hundreds of Daesh and Taliban prisoners on the run after prison siege
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.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
Ten people have been killed and six others injured by floods in Helmand province in the past week, local officials said on Friday.
According to officials, seven of those were members of the same family, and they were killed in Kajaki district last night.
“Most of the people moved from vulnerable areas to high lands and mountains, and thanks Allah the number of casualties is low,” Sher Mohammad Vahdat, the head of information of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Helmand, said adding rescue teams and security forces have been dispatched to help people.
It is said that the telecommunication system has also been disrupted due to the effect of floods in Kajaki district. Floods have also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Afghanistan, it was announced on Thursday.
During the meeting, Otunbayeva thanked India for “its critical humanitarian support and longstanding friendship for the Afghan people” and discussed the importance of regional and international cooperation to address prevailing challenges in Afghanistan, UNAMA said on X.
Jaishankar also said on X that the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan.
“Underlined that India has provided wheat, medicines, pesticides and school supplies. Appreciate the role of UN agencies as partners in these endeavors,” he said.
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