The Taliban were hoping to mirror a huge prison breakout that they conducted in Kandahar that ended up freeing 400 Taliban prisoners by doing the same type of operation in a large prison in Kabul but Afghan security officials sniffed it out and thwarted the combination suicide bombing attack and prison break. Here's some of the details from MSNBC:
Obviously, the fact that three police officers were involved in this plot is an indicator of how porous the security forces in Afghanistan are - very similar to that of Pakistan. This is actually a huge stop by the Afghan intelligence people in that the prison break in Kandahar was felt for months as some of those escaped Taliban made their presence known immediately in attacks they carried out.
The most disturbing aspects of this situation is the accessibility to the big urban centers to the Taliban. A while back, the Taliban were basically segregated to the hinterlands and the mountainous villages but they have become influential even into the two biggest cities in Afghanistan. The day that suicide attacks become commonplace in Kabul and Kandahar is the day that NATO is going to be in DEEP trouble.
Afghanistan's intelligence service said Saturday it broke up a Taliban plot to attack the country's most notorious prison with a wave of suicide bombers.
The thwarted attack on the Policharki prison on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, was meant to free Taliban and criminal prisoners, the Afghan intelligence service said in a statement.
Three police who worked at Policharki were arrested, the intelligence service said. They were allegedly paid off by militants to help carry out the attack.
The three officers smuggled explosives and mobile phone batteries and chargers into the prison so two Taliban prisoners could make suicide vests, it said, adding the officers confessed their roles in the plot.
The intelligence service did not say when the arrests took place or when the attack was to be carried out. The commander of the prison, Maj. Gen. Abdul Baqi Basody, said the three were arrested about two weeks ago.
Obviously, the fact that three police officers were involved in this plot is an indicator of how porous the security forces in Afghanistan are - very similar to that of Pakistan. This is actually a huge stop by the Afghan intelligence people in that the prison break in Kandahar was felt for months as some of those escaped Taliban made their presence known immediately in attacks they carried out.
The most disturbing aspects of this situation is the accessibility to the big urban centers to the Taliban. A while back, the Taliban were basically segregated to the hinterlands and the mountainous villages but they have become influential even into the two biggest cities in Afghanistan. The day that suicide attacks become commonplace in Kabul and Kandahar is the day that NATO is going to be in DEEP trouble.
Afghan officials: Taliban jailbreak thwarted
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's intelligence service said Saturday it broke up a Taliban plot to attack the country's most notorious prison with a wave of suicide bombers.
The thwarted attack on the Policharki prison on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, was meant to free Taliban and criminal prisoners, the Afghan intelligence service said in a statement.
The attack would have mirrored a massive assault in June on a prison in Kandahar — the country's second largest city and the spiritual home of the Taliban — that freed almost 900 prisoners, including about 400 Taliban fighters.
Three police who worked at Policharki were arrested, the intelligence service said. They were allegedly paid off by militants to help carry out the attack.
The three officers smuggled explosives and mobile phone batteries and chargers into the prison so two Taliban prisoners could make suicide vests, it said, adding the officers confessed their roles in the plot.
The intelligence service did not say when the arrests took place or when the attack was to be carried out. The commander of the prison, Maj. Gen. Abdul Baqi Basody, said the three were arrested about two weeks ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment