Some 400 to 600 foreign militants staged a violent uprising in a prison in Mazar-i-Sharif Sunday after surrendering to Northern Alliance forces, leaving scores dead, witnesses said.
An interpreter who was near the prison when the uprising occurred said the mainly Arab, Pakistani and Chechen prisoners disarmed their guards after killing a senior alliance commander with a hand grenade.
He said a vicious gunbattle ensued and "a lot of people, perhaps a hundred" were killed.
The prisoners had surrendered earlier from the besieged city of Kunduz, where hardcore Taliban forces had withstood almost two weeks of US bombing and alliance shelling before apparently giving in over the weekend.
Alliance soldiers subsequently confirmed that the foreigners had revolted in the ancient fort of Kalajangui, 10 kilometers (six miles) to the west of here, where they had been held.
They said tanks were sent to quell the uprising.
Explosions could be heard in the distance around Mazar-i-Sharif as night fell, and US warplanes buzzed overhead but it was not clear if they were bombing.
US special forces have been in the area for several weeks, working closely with General Abdul Rashid Dostam, the main alliance commander in Mazar-i-Sharif.
It was not immediately known if any US soldiers were involved in the uprising, but CNN reported that at least two US soldiers were in the fort at the time and were heard discussing possible air support.
Ulugbek Orgashevdit, the interpreter working for a German television station, said the violence began when a foreign prisoner blew himself up with a hand grenade.
"One of them committed suicide with a hand grenade, which killed the commanders," he said.
"Then the other Taliban took advantage of the panic to take up arms and the shooting began." -- MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (AFP)
