Five prisoners escape from Balkh jail

Monitoring Desk

MAZAR-E-SHARIF: As many as five prisoners broke out central prison in northern Balkh province, police said Wednesday.

The prisoners broke one of the jail walls in the darkness of the night and escaped, Sher Jan Durrani, spokesman of Balkh police, confirmed to Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).

He said the security guards did not know how the prisoners broke the jail wall and escaped, adding the jail was located in a populated area and surrounded by houses and private buildings.

Durrani said a joint team of police, jail authorities, attorney office and other investigative organs were conducting investigations into the jailbreak.

Some unconfirmed reports suggested that those broke out the jail were “political prisoners”, a term Afghan authorities use for Taliban prisoners.

The incident occurred at a time when the Afghan president removed the influential Balkh governor, Atta Muhammad Noor, a decision rejected by Noor.