Taliban insurgents attack prison, free 355 inmates

Taliban insurgents freed 355 inmates during a coordinated attack on a prison in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, according to multiple reports.

{mosads}Four guards were killed and seven others were wounded in the attack, The Associated Press reported Monday.

The insurgents wore military uniforms and breached the compound’s entrance gate with a suicide car bomber, according to Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, deputy governor of Ghazni province, who spoke to the AP. Three insurgents died in the early morning attack.

The prison raid was part of at least 10 overnight Taliban attacks in the city, officials said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group took responsibility for the attack on the prison in an email sent to the media, according to the AP.

According to a statement from the Afghan Interior Ministry, 148 of the escapees are considered to be a serious threat to national security. Three of the escaped prisoners have been recaptured.

Just a day earlier, 20 of the prison’s most dangerous inmates were transferred to another facility after a fight broke out, Ahmadi said.