Taliban fighters armed with bombs and grenades attack a Pakistani jail to free 250 prisoners, including 30 “top militants” and six inmates who were on death row.
The overnight operation saw Taliban fighters, disguised as police, attack the jail in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
It is an embarrassing blow to Pakistan‘s government, raising questions over its ability to tackle the Taliban threat.
Local officials said dozens of gunmen launched the attack by blowing up an electricity line that led to the prison. Heavy explosives were then detonated which breached the facility’s outer wall.
We will investigate how the militants managed to come from the distant tribal areas and break into the jail and take away their people. Senior government official
Militants then fought their way inside using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. They are reported to have called the names of Taliban prisoners through loud speakers.
As the gun battle continued, Taliban fighters took over a nearby house and hospital, taking those inside hostage. Security services were fired upon from the roof tops by Taliban fighters.
The Pakistani Taliban said a squad of 100 militants and seven suicide bombers were sent to the prison to free some of its top leaders. The plan was put together with help from insiders in the security services, the Taliban said.
The Taliban said 250 prisoners were released, a figure matched by Pakistani authorities. They also said the attack had been masterminded by Adnan Rashid, a Taliban commander who was himself freed from prison by militants in 2012.
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 fled to the lawless areas of South and North Waziristan.
Around 250 at the prison, which houses 5,000, are Pakistani Taliban and members of banned sectarian groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group that has killed hundreds of Shi’ite civilians this year.
“It was a heavily guarded jail and considered one of the most protected prisons in the province,” said a senior government official in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“We will investigate how the militants managed to come from the distant tribal areas and break into the jail and take away their people.”
Security forces said they had imposed a curfew on the city and the gunbattle was over by dawn.
The attack is an embarrassment for the Pakistani government, which is under pressure to tackle the Taliban. The attack on the secure prison raises questions over security in Pakistan, and over whether promised “peace talks” are feasible.
One security official said provincial authorities received warning of the impending attack two weeks ago. He said phone intercepts indicated the militants had been planning a jail break and interrogations of captured fighters confirmed it.
Security officials had alerted the provincial governor of the threat based on the intercepts.
The prison was also reported to have been understaffed on the night of the attack, and those security staff who were at the prison are said to have not had enough ammunition.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has previously promised peace talks with the insurgents, but will now be under pressure to tackle the Taliban with military force.
The attack comes on the day Pakistani politicians will choose a new president in a largely ceremonial vote, and two days before a major Shia festival which security officials have warned could be attacked.
Taliban attacks have plagued Pakistan in 2013, with 15 people killed in an attack on a security convoy, and nine tourists killed in an attack on a hotel, at the end of June.