Several inmates have escaped after militants stormed a prison in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, shattering the relative calm of a ceasefire across the country.
The Daesh-claimed assault began on Sunday evening with car bomb detonated at the entrance to the prison in Jalalabad city, and there were numerous other blasts heard as the attackers opened fire on security guards.
At least 11 people were killed and another 42 people wounded in the gunbattle, said Zahir Adil, spokesman for the provincial health department. He said the toll was expected to rise.
During the ensuing chaos more than 75 prisoners escaped, forcing police to divert manpower to try to recapture them, according to the officials.
A city wide search for them had been launched, another security source said.
The prison houses about 1,500 inmates, of which several hundred are believed to belong to the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan.
It wasn't immediately clear if there were specific prisoners housed in the prison that the attack was staged to free.
The gunmen first set off an explosives-packed car near the prison and then opened fire on security guards at the facility in the city of Jalalabad, Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said.
"A number of them have taken position in a market near the prison and are engaging the security forces," he said.
"Fighting is continuing," he said, but added that government forces were in control of the situation.
Daesh terror group claimed responsibility. It wasn’t clear how many assailants were involved in the firefight.
Ceasefire between government and Taliban
The Taliban denied they were involved in the assault, that came on the final day of a rare truce between the insurgent group and Kabul to mark the Eid al Adha holiday.
"This is not our attack. Our mujahideen are not yet authorised to carry out attacks," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.
The assault happened on the third and final day of a ceasefire between the Afghan government and the Taliban, when hundreds of Taliban prisoners were released in an attempt to make a final push for intra-Afghan peace talks.
President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban have both indicated that long-delayed negotiations could begin immediately after the Eid al Adha festival, which took place in Kabul on Thursday.
The Taliban says it has freed all 1,000 Afghan prisoners it had pledged to release in a deal with the United States.
Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar has seen regular attacks, several of them claimed by Daesh.
On May 12, a suicide bomber killed 32 mourners at a funeral for a police commander in the province in one of the deadliest attacks this year.
Daesh militant killed near Jalalabad
Afghanistan's intelligence service said the country's special forces killed a high-ranking official with the local Daesh group affiliate in an operation near Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.
A statement late on Saturday by the National Directorate of Security said the slain militant was Assadullah Orakzai, an intelligence leader for the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan.
Orakzai was suspected of being involved in several deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has seen a recent spike in violence, with most attacks claimed by the local Daesh affiliate.
UN reports 13% drop in civilian casualties
Still, a UN report last week said Afghanistan saw a 13 percent drop in the number of civilians killed and wounded in violence across the country in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
The report credited the drop in casualties in part to the reduction of operations by international forces — which now only act when called upon and in support of the Afghan forces — and also to a decrease in the number of attacks by Daesh.
The report said the UN had recorded 17 attacks by Daesh that caused civilian casualties during the first six months of 2020, down from 97 attacks in the same period last year. Overall, the UN said 1,282 people were killed in violence in the first six months of 2020 in Afghanistan and 2,176 were wounded.
Another UN report last month estimated there are around 2,200 Daesh members in Afghanistan, and said that while its leadership has been depleted, Daesh still counts among its leaders a Syrian national Abu Said Mohammad al Khorasani. The report also said the monitoring team had received information that two senior Daesh commanders, Abu Qutaibah and Abu Hajar al Iraqi, had recently arrived in Afghanistan from the Middle East.
“Although in territorial retreat, [Daesh] remains capable of carrying out high-profile attacks in various parts of the country, including Kabul. It also aims to attract Taliban fighters who oppose the agreement with the United States,” the report said, referring to a US peace deal signed with the Taliban in February.
That deal was struck to allow the US to end its 19-year involvement in Afghanistan, and calls on the Taliban to guarantee its territory will not be used by terrorist groups.
The deal is also expected to guarantee the Taliban’s all-out participation in the fight against Daesh.
In March, a lone Daesh gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of the Afghan capital, killing 25 worshipers and wounding eight.
The gunman held many worshipers hostage for several hours while Afghan special forces, helped by international troops, tried to clear the building. At least one of the dead was a child.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
