Taliban Prison Break in Afghanistan

By Jeralyn, Section Afghanistan 2009
Posted on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 08:46:00 AM EST
Tags: Afghanistan (all tags)

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The Taliban spent the past 5 months building a 1,060 foot underground tunnel that led directly into Sarposa Prison in Khandahar and broke out 575 inmates, including about 100 Taliban commanders.

Their tunnel operation was not discovered. They were able to bypass checkpoints and main roads. When asked how the Taliban were able to build the tunnel and effect the breakout, Gov. Tooryalai Wesa said only, "It's under investigation."

This is one of the prisons at which the U.S. has been providing training and funding to strengthen the Afghan secuirty guards.

The facility has undergone security upgrades and tightened procedures following a brazen 2008 Taliban attack that freed 900 prisoners. Afghan government officials and their NATO backers have regularly said that the prison has vastly improved security since that attack.

All the prisoners had left through the tunnel, taking 4.5 hours to do so, before anyone knew they were gone.

Guess they are still not ready for prime-time. How much more will it cost us to stay longer and re-train them?

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Taliban Prison Break in Afghanistan | 21 comments (21 topical)

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Not a Taliban fan... (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by kdog on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 10:22:38 AM EST

by any means, but I'm a big fan of a good prison break...and thats one helluva prison break.

Long past time to get the hell out of Dodge.

Latter day Stalag 17. (none / 0) (#9)
by oculus on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 10:45:42 AM EST

My husband said they need (none / 0) (#10)
by Militarytracy on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 11:24:00 AM EST

to make a movie about it called The Great Escape II.


: Somehow it reminds me more (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by shoephone on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 11:26:33 AM EST

of Hogan's Heroes. This morning, everybody over there looks like Sargeant Shultz. "I know nothing!!!"

I never said they were nice... (5.00 / 3) (#20)
by kdog on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 02:57:47 PM EST

just no real threat to the US from Afghanistan.

International terrorist orgs pose a threat to the west, a threat best addressed in the West, not in a basically lawless country of rocks where all Empires go to die.

Of course they're gonna claim we're getting some return from all that foreign occupying, and funding, and evisceration of individual rights...the question is why should we believe it? The DEA claims returns too...they're not trustworthy.

This will be the talk of the day (none / 0) (#1)
by Militarytracy on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 08:33:57 AM EST

in my neck of the woods. Because the military is very punitive by the end of the day it will have been everyone's fault at least once :) It will even be my fault and your fault at some point.

How much more will it cost? (none / 0) (#2)
by MO Blue on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 08:58:53 AM EST

Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and whatever other military incursion that are on the table will cost us the domestic and safety net programs our citizens need to survive.

: I love Lindsey Graham (none / 0) (#5)
by Militarytracy on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 09:12:09 AM EST

We are NATO. We must remove Gaddafi. But we aren't NATO, only a partner. And French Special Forces did just fine getting Laurent Gbabgo. If Gaddafi can be gotten to, they can do it just like we would do.

Retrain Them to Not be Corrupt ? (none / 0) (#6)
by ScottW714 on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 09:56:42 AM EST

Who knows what really happened, but I have an extemely hard time believeing 400+ can leave a prison without anyone noticing. The obvious conclusion is that the guards were in on it, either through devotion and/or payoffs. And if they were, who else was ? You don't just build a 1000 foot tunnel w/o anyone noticing, truckloads of dirt/rock, lots of noise, and lots diggers working round the clock.

So all total 1300 Taliban members/leaders have escaped from this prison. That's a lot of F people, a lot of US soldiers have been and will be harmed because of these escapes.

If they can't get it together enough to keep prisoners locked-up, the obvious question is, what in the F are we doing over there ? You can't train people to not take pay-offs.

It's time to let Afghans be Afghans, and Americans to come home. Pouring money down this infinite hell-hole is not the answer and putting Americans in harms way only to have Afghans let the bad guys go, again, is ridiculous.

American needs to figure out the obvious, not all the world's problems can be solved with money and might. We can train the entire world, but we can never train them not to be corrupt.

Yup-that is a heckuva lot of Taliban (none / 0) (#8)
by ruffian on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 10:34:35 AM EST

Back to square one. And it will keep going around and around. Time to get off the merry-go-round.


As the great escape was a break-in (none / 0) (#18)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 02:30:01 PM EST

As the great escape was a break-in rather than a break-out, there was no need to surreptitiously get rid of the earth inside the camp; according to one local media report, the Kandahar plotters simply sold lorry loads of the earth in the city's bazaar from a tunnel stretching a reported 320 metres.

Suspicions were immediately roused that the escape plot must have enjoyed support and help from prison guards to suceed, but [the Taliban escapee interviewed by The Gaurdian] doubted it. "They were just sleeping," he said amidst extended laughter.
"The guards are always drunk. Either they smoke heroin or marijuana, and then they just fall asleep. During the whole process no one checked, there was no patrols, no shooting or anything."

: The guards may not have been on (none / 0) (#21)
by KeysDan on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 02:59:40 PM EST

their toes, but wouldn't they at least have noticed all the food left over? Not buying it.

And how! (none / 0) (#24)
by lentinel on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 07:44:12 PM EST

America needs to figure out the obvious.

And that goes for Obama.


Wow, what an epic fail (none / 0) (#11)
by shoephone on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 11:24:20 AM EST

But Petraeus is such a great military leader over in Afghanistan. We're really turning the corner, eh? Winning!

Not Funny (none / 0) (#13)
by ScottW714 on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 12:25:51 PM EST

I'm kind of dismayed at the blase' comments about prison breaks and naming them. These people are instrumental in waging war against Americans and will invariably lead to more American Soldiers being injured and killed.

"Hahahaha, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed escaped from Gitmo, ROTFLMAO, I love when our sworn enemies escape justice."

: I am not convinced... (5.00 / 3) (#14)
by kdog on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 12:59:55 PM EST

that whoever was behind them bars is a threat to the United States as a nation, or its people...I don't think they could be even if they wanted too...they don't have the means.
The Taliban, though a threat to Afghans who wanna dress freely or listen to music freely, are no threat to the Unites States, not even in their dreams. They never did anything directly to us, except let AQ hang out in the hills.
A threat to occupying forces? Yeah, but I see that as different as a threat to the United States. The best thing we can do for the safety of our occupying forces in not to build prisons on foreign soil and fill them, but to retreat from foreign soil and cease being occupiers.
Maybe its wrong to make jokes, but ya gotta admit its pretty funny...forget building a nation, we can't even build a prison worth a damn...and thats our bread and butter! Ya gotta find that at least a little humorous.

OK, They are Only a Threat to Americans... (none / 0) (#15)
by ScottW714 on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 01:57:38 PM EST

... in Afghanistan, aka the military.

I hear what you are saying, but they are trying to kill us, or rather our military that is currently occupying their country.

I really don't see the humor.

I agree, we shouldn't be there, but that's another discussion.

Sorry, but '100 Taliban Commanders' can't be good news for the troops, I would go as far as saying it's probably really bad news. Maybe they are goat herders that others wanted out so bad they coordinated a massive escape plan. I just assumed the term 'commander' meant they were engaged in warfare against the US military.

Here the hole in the prison floor:
http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/110425-kandahar-prison-hole-vmed-715a.grid- 6x2.jpg

I Would also Add... (none / 0) (#16)
by ScottW714 on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 02:02:44 PM EST

... that they are more than a threat "to Afghans who wanna dress freely or listen to music freely."

Pretty sure they are w/o a doubt a threat to all Afghan woman's lives.

But that wasn't really my point.


I got your point too... (none / 0) (#22)
by kdog on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 03:13:18 PM EST

Better to laugh than cry about the endless circle of violence over there...or in the ME, or in Africa...sh*t everywhere to varying degrees. The whole world is a cruel violent joke, occupations and prison camps just fule that fire.

At least today the punchline is a prison break...usually the punchline is a market being bombed or a drone attack on a wedding or something.


: Hard not to laugh, if not (none / 0) (#23)
by KeysDan on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 04:31:42 PM EST

just from watching, for example, clowns like Lindsey Graham wanting to bomb Tripoli to worry Qaddafi's inner circle that when they wake up in the morning, that today may be their last. Or, John McCain, reporting live from downtown Benghazi that we need troops on the Libyan ground because if we don't we open the door for al Qaeda to come in.

: True (none / 0) (#25)
by ScottW714 on Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 01:20:16 PM EST

Just in one of those moods yesterday, mad at the stupidity and taking it out on the blogsters.
Plus when a certain un-named person stepped stepped in I was pretty sure I was on the wrong end of that discussion.