Militants move freed prisoners to northwestern Pakistan
Iran Press TV
Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:47PM GMT
Top Taliban commanders say they have managed to smuggle over two dozen militants they broke out of a prison in the restive northwestern Pakistan.
The two unnamed top commanders told media outlets that at least 25 militants had been shifted to North Waziristan tribal region, the main sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban linked militants.
They added that the recent jailbreak in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan - codenamed Freedom from Death - cost 11.5 million rupees (USD115,000).
According to the militant group, eighteen of the 150 militants who took part in operation were given special commando training.
In the meantime, Pakistani police official officials said 41 of the 252 prisoners who escaped have been captured.
The developments come after heavily-armed militants launched an attack on the prison in the town of Dera Ismail Khan around midnight Monday. The attack began with dozens of gunmen cutting off power supply to the prison and detonating heavy explosions that broke the outer walls.
The prison holds hundreds of high-profile Taliban commanders and other militants.
The assault showed the ability of pro-Taliban militants to strike at the heart of heavily guarded prison system and walk away with dozens of senior Taliban commanders.
Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province is adjacent to South Waziristan, Pakistan's restive, mountainous tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.
In a similar incident last April, close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" insurgents, were freed in an assault on a prison in the city of Bannu in northwest Pakistan.
Despite the Pakistani government's operations against militants and terrorists, they are still able to spread their influence in various regions of the country.
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Pakistan entered an alliance with the US in the so-called war on terrorism.
Thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.
JR/KA
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