The Globe and Mail wrote:Military assess damage from Afghan prison break
ALEXANDER PANETTA
The Canadian Press
June 14, 2008 at 6:08 PM EDT
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian soldiers are participating in a massive manhunt for hundreds of pro-Taliban detainees who escaped from a prison that is now a cratered, rubble-filled blast site.
They will seek out intelligence about the rebels' whereabouts and pass the information along to Afghan authorities, Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan said Saturday.
Canadian officials said the interior of Kandahar's biggest prison remained solid enough that future captives could again be sent to the facility before too long.
But the mounds of carnage at the entrance illustrated a disheartening reality for NATO troops: Almost 400 of the prisoners they've already captured are on the loose. At least six police officers are dead.
Works crews sifted through debris for body parts. Bits of barbed wire lay strewn in the street. Empty shoes lay scattered about. The mangled, scorched remains of police vehicles were overturned.
Hydraulic shovels gathered heaps of brown rubble in front of a gaping hole that was once the wall of Sarposa prison.
All were evidence of a multi-pronged assault that saw the prison pounded by an explosive-laden truck, a suicide bomber, a series rocket-propelled grenades and finally gun-wielding intruders.
Canadian military engineers and police officers twice visited the prison Saturday to help Afghan officials assess the damage and restore the facility to functional capacity.
The Canadian commander said Afghan security forces would play the lead role in hunting down inmates. But he said Canadian troops would seek out and share tips with their Afghan counterparts.
"We have — as they do — multiple eyes on this province," said Brigadier-General Denis Thompson.
"We will cue Afghan National Forces to help them capture the fugitives."
The Afghan government announced that 870 of the jail's 1,005 inmates had escaped — including the vast majority of its 398 suspected rebels, the ones they call "political prisoners."
As for the impact on Canadian troops, Brig.-Gen. Thompson held out hope that the influx of insurgents would not come back to haunt Canadian soldiers on the battlefield.
He also expressed optimism over news that Afghan authorities had received 22 tips from civilians and had discovered five roadside bombs with their help.
While he called that public assistance an encouraging sign for the international mission, Thompson was blunt when asked about the impact of the previous night's events.
"Typically, you have good days and bad days," he said of the mission. "Clearly, yesterday was a bad day."
Privately, soldiers muttered that the attack would be a public-relations bonanza for the Taliban; thousands of inmates' family members and friends will credit them for freeing their loved ones.
"This is a big win for them," one soldier said.
A neighbour of the prison declared the brazen assault a demonstration of strength by the insurgency.
Mohammad Aiwaiz said he heard a huge blast around 9:30 p.m. Friday night, then saw flames spewing out from the building. Finally, he heard an exchange of gunfire inside.
"I was very scared and worried. I told my family not to leave," he said.
"The Taliban have managed to demonstrate that they can still take control of Kandahar city."
While the international coalition has been engaged in fierce battles with insurgents in chaotic rural areas of Kandahar province, the city was seen as an oasis of calm by comparison. With one of the city's most secure spots in smouldering ruins locals may be unconvinced momentum is building toward a stable, democratic Afghanistan.
Afghan authorities said the prisoners quickly vanished Friday night into large fruit orchards surrounding the jail.
The prison is about 30 kilometres from the main NATO base at Kandahar Airfield, but far closer to the small Canadian reconstruction facility near the downtown core.
Afghanistan's deputy minister of the interior told a news conference Saturday that six people believed to be escapees had been recaptured. Munir Mangal said the situation was stable.
He said so under heavy protection at the provincial governor's compound, which was guarded by tanks and soldiers from several countries including Canada.
A deputy minister at the Justice Ministry told The Associated Press that the rockets demolished an upper prison floor.
Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said there was no proof militants received help from the inside. But as a precaution the prison's chief official, Abdul Qabir, was placed under investigation for possible involvement, Mr. Hashimzai said.
Back at the Kandahar military base, the regular weekly bazaar was cancelled.
Every Saturday, the base is abuzz with local merchants peddling clothes, jewellery and electronics and bargaining with soldiers as children tug at their arms to lead them to other stalls.
Not this Saturday. Soldiers were informed in a terse morning announcement over base loudspeakers that the weekly event was cancelled.
The Taliban said 30 insurgents on motorbikes and two suicide bombers attacked the prison.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press that militants had been planning the assault for the last two months "to release our Taliban friends."
Just months ago, the Canadian government resumed prisoner transfers after suspending them because of documented abuse of detainees by Afghan officials.
Inmates at Sarposa described having been whipped, choked and electrocuted in separate detention facilities run by Afghanistan's feared intelligence police.
"Today we succeeded," he said. The escaped prisoners "are safe in town and they are going to their homes."
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- PeZook
