Almost 500 Taliban Escape Kandahar Prison

The largest prison in the province where Canada's mission is based faces its second massive Taliban jailbreak in three years.

Nearly 500 Taliban insurgents have escaped from a prison in Kandahar, where the Canadian Forces' mission in Afghanistan is based until mid-summer. The jailbreak of 475 “political” prisoners at Sarposa Prison, the main penitentiary in Kandahar province, comes three years after some 900 Taliban fighters escaped from the same facility. In this case, the prisoners apparently dug a 300-metre tunnel from the cells to freedom and escaped over the course of a few hours. Canada's 2,500-strong contingent in the area is not responsible for the jail anymore, as it falls outside its jurisdiction in Kandahar City, but Canadian correctional officers have helped for years to try to turn the security situation at the prison around.