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Taliban attack Pakistan prison Taliban attack Pakistan prison
(about 2 hours later)
Taliban militants disguised as police and armed with guns, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives attacked a prison in north-west Pakistan holding 40 "high-profile" inmates Monday night in an apparent attempt to free associates, officials said. Dozens of Taliban militants armed with guns, grenades and bombs have attacked a prison in north-west Pakistan, freeing more than 250 prisoners, including 25 "dangerous terrorists", according to officials said.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying 150 militants took part and around 300 prisoners were freed. The militants killed six policemen, six Shia Muslim prisoners and two civilians during the attack on Monday night in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, said the town's commissioner, Mushtaq Jadoon. One of the Shias was beheaded, said Jadoon, and 15 policemen were wounded.
The attack in the town of Dera Ismail Khan began around midnight with a huge explosion, said intelligence officials. A local resident, Sharafat Khan, said the blast was so loud "it rattled every house in the neighbourhood". Around 70 militants arrived at the prison by car and motorcycle at around 11.30pm and their assault lasted for about four and a half hours until most of the fighters escaped, said intelligence officials.
The militants then set off a series of smaller explosions to destroy the prison's boundary wall, said the intelligence officials. At least eight attackers wearing police uniforms stormed inside the prison once the walls fell. Security forces engaged the attackers, who also fired rocket-propelled grenades and lobbed hand grenades during the attack, said the deputy commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan, Khan Mushtaq Jadoon. The attack began with a huge explosion that one resident, Sharafat Khan, said was so loud "it rattled every house in the neighbourhood". The militants then detonated dozens of smaller bombs at different points along the prison walls, causing them to collapse, Jadoon said. They also used rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades during the attack, he said.
"Right now some of the attackers are inside the jail and others have occupied two buildings outside," said Jadoon. "We are going to launch a major operation soon. The city has been sealed. The army is leading the operation." Security forces engaged the attackers, at least eight attackers of whom wore police uniforms and entered the prison on motorcycles adorned with Taliban flags. They used megaphones to call out the names of specific prisoners for whom they were looking.
Khalid Abbas, head of the prison department in surrounding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the jail held 40 "high-profile" prisoners. "We are not sure if any of them escaped," Abbas said. The militants broke open the cells and freed 253 prisoners, including 25 "dangerous terrorists", said Jadoon.
The militants reportedly called out specific prisoners by name using a microphone and amplifier, said Jadoon. Authorities caught six prisoners trying to flee the city by car, he said. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying 150 militants took part and about 300 prisoners were freed. Eight of the attackers wore suicide vests and two detonated their explosives, Shahid told the Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Officials had received a letter threatening an attack on the prison but they didn't expect it so soon, said Abbas. Army troops encircled the prison and exchanged fire with the attackers, he said, but security forces were having trouble distinguishing the militants in the dark because of their police uniforms. Authorities captured nine prisoners who escaped and were searching for the others, as well as the militants, said Jadoon. Army soldiers were called in as reinforcements.
One prison official, Gul Mohammad, said he had just walked out of the prison at the end of his shift when two militants armed with AK-47s shot him. There were other officials who had been wounded, he said from a hospital bed, although the casualty toll was unclear. A curfew had been imposed in Dera Ismail Khan and the nearby town of Tank while the search contented, said Amir Khattak, Dera Ismail Khan's deputy commissioner. The town is located near Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the country.
Dera Ismail Khan is located on the edge of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal area, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants. Officials had received a letter threatening an attack on the prison but didn't expect it so soon, said Khalid Abbas, head of the prison department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In April 2012 Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in the city of Bannu in north-west Pakistan, freeing close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" insurgents.In April 2012 Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in the city of Bannu in north-west Pakistan, freeing close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" insurgents.
One of the militants freed in that attack, Adnan Rasheed, recently gained attention by writing a letter to the teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012. Rasheed said he wished the attack hadn't happened but told Malala that she had been targeted for speaking ill of the Taliban. One of the militants freed in that attack, Adnan Rasheed, recently gained attention by writing a letter to teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012. Rasheed said he wished the attack hadn't happened but told Malala that she had been targeted for speaking ill of the Taliban.
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