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More Than 200 Escape in Pakistan Prison Attack Nearly 250 Captives Escape in Pakistan Prison Attack
(about 5 hours later)
PESHAWAR — More than 200 prisoners escaped following a massive attack on one of the main prisons in northwestern Pakistan on Monday night, a senior security official said. PESHAWAR — Nearly 250 prisoners escaped after a massive attack on one of the main prisons in northwestern Pakistan on Monday night, a senior security official said.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, following an overnight attack on the 100-year-old central prison there, which housed more than 500 prisoners. All roads leading to neighboring restive tribal regions of North and South Waziristan were blocked off and a search operation has been launched, officials said, requesting they not be named. Authorities imposed a curfew in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, after the overnight attack on the 100-year-old central prison there, which had held more than 500 prisoners. All roads leading to neighboring restive tribal regions of North and South Waziristan were blocked and a search has begun, officials said, adding that six prisoners had been recaptured.
“The attackers have melted away in the population,” one official acknolwledged. “The attackers have melted away in the population,” one official said.
More than 100 militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy arms rode in on motorbikes and vehicles and then blasted the prison walls and broke open locks on cells, freeing 243 prisoners including 30 militants, the security official said. Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the banned Tehreek I Taliban Pakistan, said that around 150 fighters took part in the attack and that they freed two hundred inmates. He said two militant fighters were killed in the attack.
“They used megaphones to call names of their comrades in the lock-ups and then broke up their cells using explosives devices,” the official said. In the attack, more than 100 militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy arms rode in on motorbikes and vehicles and then blasted the prison walls and broke open locks on cells, freeing 243 prisoners, including 30 militants, the security official said.
Thirteen people were killed in the attack that began at around 11 p.m. and continued for three hours, the official said. “They used megaphones to call names of their comrades in the lockups and then broke up their cells using explosives devices,” the official said.
Thirteen people were killed in the attack, which began at around 11 p.m. and continued for three hours, the official said.
“There are explosives littered around the compound,” the official said.“There are explosives littered around the compound,” the official said.
Four policemen and five civilians were among the dead. Four prisoners who belonged to the minority Shia sect and had been charged in targeted killings were also identified and killed by militants, the official said. Another 13 people were wounded in the attack. Four policemen and five civilians were among the dead. Four prisoners who belonged to the minority Shia sect and had been charged in targeted killings were also identified and killed by militants, the official said. Another 13 people were injured in the attack.
The attack was the second major prison raid in two years. In April last year, militants stormed a prison in neighbouring Bannu district, freeing nearly 400 prisoners. The attack was the second major prison raid in two years. In April last year, militants stormed a prison in neighboring Bannu district, freeing nearly 400 prisoners.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for Monday night’s attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani Air Force official who had participated in an assassination attempt on Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the former president. Mr. Rashid, who was among the escapees from the Bannu prison break, has since taken shelter in North Waziristan. He released a video early this year, announcing the formation of a special group to help rescue militants holed up in jails across the country. A senior security official said that before the attack, information had been passed to the district administration, security forces and jail authorities about an imminent attack and that a conference had been held to assess the prison’s security.
But the senior security official said that a banned sectarian militant outfit, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Khitab group, was behind the assault. “The attack was so sudden and big,” the official said. “Probably, no one suspected it was around the corner. No security measures could be put in place to pre-empt it.”
He said that intelligence had been passed on to the district administration, security forces and jail authorities of an imminent attack and that a security conference had been held to assess the prison’s security. “This is a debacle of the highest order,” said a senior government official. “We had timely intelligence and senior district administration and security officials had visited the central prison to check security. Still this debacle?”
“The attack was so sudden and big. Probably, no one suspected it was around the corner. No security measures could be put in place to preempt it,” the official said.
“This is a debacle of the highest order,” commented a senior government official. “We had timely intelligence and senior district administration and security officials had visited the central prison to check security. Still this debacle?”