Afghan jail break ‘highly regrettable:’ Canada

OTTAWA: Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay on Sunday called a massive prison break in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar highly regrettable” and said additional NATO troops had been deployed there.

“There’s been additional Canadian forces personnel and other Isaf (International Security Assistance Force) personnel who have been deployed into Kandahar city and the region,” MacKay told CTV television in an interview.

Canada has a contingent of some 2,500 soldiers stationed in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and the region.

Some 27 insurgents have been killed and 20 escapees recaptured during a vast manhunt launched after hundreds of prisoners escaped following a brazen Taliban attack on the facility late Friday.

Afghan and international troops have been searching for more than 1,100 detainees who fled after the militant Taliban group blasted open the jail in Kandahar, killing several prison guards. “There a lessons to be learnt. This incident is highly regrettable,” MacKay said.

“It’s not a Canadian run prison,” he pointed out, adding that prison officials including the warden would be questioned in a probe of the incident. He said it was too early to say if prison officials were complicit in the break, but added: “Obviously the warden will have a lot of accounting to do.”

“There were two breaches, one at the main gate and one at the back with a mud wall. This was a prison that we believed was secure and clearly that’s not the case,” he said. “This is a serious issue. We are reacting with other Isaf countries and with the Afghan security forces to do everything we can in the aftermath of this,” the Canadian minister said.

“But let’s not forget this speaks to the diabolical nature of the Taliban. It speaks to the lengths to which they will go, and it’s a very challenging situation in Afghanistan,” he said.

Monday, AFP