More than 150 inmates escape in Philippine jail raid

KIDAPAWAN, Philippines: Suspected rebels staged the Philippines’ biggest jailbreak on Wednesday when they stormed a dilapidated jail in the violenceplagued south of the country, freeing 158 inmates and killing a guard, authorities said.

The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the southern Philippines, home to a decades-old separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to the IS group.

More than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local guerrilla commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city about 1:00am in what appeared to be a well-planned raid to free fellow rebels, jail authorities said.

“There are high-value targets in our custody who were the subject of a rescue operation,” jail warden Peter John Bonggat said.

The assailants were heavily armed and overwhelmed the 24 guards at the jail, according to Bonggat, who was involved in the effort to repel the gunmen and said one of his officers had been killed.

At least 158 prisoners escaped, Bonggat said, although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos.

Bonggat said the jail, which housed 1,511 inmates, was a rundown former school building located in a forested, secluded area.

Kidapawan, 950 kilometres south of Manila, is home to various rebel groups, criminal gangs and communist insurgents.

“We have many ... personalities (in the jail) that are members of various organised, syndicated groups,” Bonggat said. — AFP