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| Militants attack prison in NW Pakistan | Militants attack prison in NW Pakistan |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A prison in north-west Pakistan has come under attack from militants, local officials say. | A prison in north-west Pakistan has come under attack from militants, local officials say. |
| The attack on the jail in the town of Dera Ismail Khan began with several explosions, according to reports. | The attack on the jail in the town of Dera Ismail Khan began with several explosions, according to reports. |
| Gunmen then opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns, police chief Sohail Khalid told the Reuters news agency. | Gunmen then opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns, police chief Sohail Khalid told the Reuters news agency. |
| The prison houses hundreds of Taliban and militants from banned groups, the agency reports. | The prison houses hundreds of Taliban and militants from banned groups, the agency reports. |
| The fighting began late on Monday night and is still going on. | The fighting began late on Monday night and is still going on. |
| The attackers were chanting "God is great" and "Long live the Taliban," officials told the Associated Press. | |
| A local resident told the agency that the initial blast was so loud that "it rattled every house in the neighbourhood". | |
| The gunmen were wearing police uniforms, officials said. | |
| 'Loudspeakers' | |
| The town's civil commission, Mushtaq Jadoon, told Reuters that "dozens" of prisoners had escaped. | |
| "The Taliban have loudspeakers and they are calling the names of their friends," he said. | |
| The head of the provincial prison departnment, Khalid Abbas, told the Associated Press that authorities had received a letter threatening an attack on the prison, but they did not expect it so soon. | |
| Hundreds of inmates were freed in an assault on a prison in Bannu in northern Pakistan in April last year. | |
| Dera Ismail Khan is the main city in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, in Pakistan's restive, mountainous tribal region. | Dera Ismail Khan is the main city in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, in Pakistan's restive, mountainous tribal region. |
| Monday night's violence comes hours before Pakistani politicians are expected to choose the country's new president. | |
| The replacement for Asif Ali Zardari will be elected on Tuesday by the members of both houses of parliament and the four provincial assemblies. | The replacement for Asif Ali Zardari will be elected on Tuesday by the members of both houses of parliament and the four provincial assemblies. |