29 KILLED IN IS ATTACK IN AFGHANISTAN

JALALABAD: At least 29 people were killed in a 20-hour siege at a prison in eastern Afghanistan when Islamic State militants attempted to free hundreds of its members from the compound.

Afghan forces regained control of the Jalalabad prison, housing about 1,800 inmates on Monday afternoon, Afghan defence ministry spokesman Fawad Aman said in a WhatsApp message.

The insurgents stormed the jail on Sunday evening after detonating a car bomb at its entrance gate. At least 1,000 inmates were recaptured trying to flee during the siege, while 300 are still missing, Attaullah Khogiani, a spokesman for Nangarhar province, said by phone.

The toll from the attack includes civilians, inmates and Afghan forces, Khogiani said. Fifty others were wounded, with some in critical condition.

The raid comes a day after a senior Islamic State member was killed by Afghan forces in Nangarhar

province, which borders Pakistan, and where the group is headquartered, and three days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced the release of an additional 500 Taliban inmates to show good will for peace talks.

The siege “highlights the top security challenges” for the wartorn country at a time when US and NATO forces are withdrawing following a US-engineered peace deal with Taliban leaders signed on February 29, according to Jawid Kohistani, a security analyst and former military official said

“This is one of the group’s major and rare attacks on a government facility,” said Kohistani.

“Major attacks by the Islamic State in recent months show they would become the top insurgent group to destabilize the country and the region, replacing the Taliban. The war may never end.”

The Taliban, which controls or contests more than half the country, denied responsibility for the attack in an emailed statement. The group had declared a threeday ceasefire starting Friday during Eid al-Adha.