Mass jailbreak in Pakistan
Taliban fighters storm prison, blast frees 250
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN: Taliban fighters disguised as police and armed with bombs and grenades broke 250 prisoners out of a Pakistan jail in a brazen overnight attack that undermined the new government’s ability to combat an escalating insurgency.
The assault on the heavily guarded Central Prison in the city of Dera Ismail Khan took place despite reports that regional officials had received intelligence two weeks ago suggesting such an attack was imminent.
The well-planned attack underlines the growing capabilities of the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, an offshoot of the Islamist insurgents of the same name in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Despite holding promising peace talks with the insurgents during an election campaign earlier this year, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appears to be accepting that the use of military force may be unavoidable after a series of high-profile attacks.
The Pakistani Taliban said they had sent a squad of 100 fighters and seven suicide bombers on a mission to free some of their top leaders, and they said they released 250 prisoners — a number roughly matched by local Pakistani authorities.
Fighting continued into the early hours yesterday, with explosions and machine gun fire rattling the city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on the edge of Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
At least 12 people were killed, officials said, including five policemen and four prisoners from the minority Shia sect whose throats were slashed by gunmen, officials said. The Taliban are mostly majority Sunni Muslims.
Mushtaq Jadoon, the town’s civil commissioner, said the 253 escaped prisoners included 30 top militants and six people on death row. Those who escaped are believed to have been whisked away to nearby South and North Waziristan, areas where the Taliban has strongholds.
As the attack unfolded, gunmen blew up electricity lines to the prison and detonated bombs to breach the outer walls.
They fought their way inside using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, and called the names of Taliban prisoners they wanted to release through loud speakers.
Once inside, attackers shot open most of the locks and used bombs to blast their way deep into the prison, shouting ‘‘All the locks are broken! Those who want to escape, now is your chance’’, prison officials who were there at the time said.
Security forces said they had imposed a curfew on the city and the gunbattle was over by dawn. Security forces and bomb disposal squads searched amid ruined walls strewn with bullet holes.
Police Constable Gul Mohammed said he had been rushing to the scene when he was confronted by two boys holding rifles. ‘‘They told me to stop,’’ he said. ‘‘I told them I am a policeman, and that’s when they opened fire.’’ He said they shot him three times.
The attack came a year after a similar mass jailbreak in the northern town of Bannu which Taliban militants said was carried out with inside help from prison guards.
There was no official comment from the central government.
The audacity of the latest assault raised embarrassing questions over how well-prepared security forces are following a series of high-profile attacks, and underscores the challenges facing Pakistan’s new government in combating the militancy. The heavily guarded jail at Dera Ismail Khan houses around 5,000 prisoners. Around 250 are Pakistani Taliban.