Taliban assault on jail, 600 prisoners escape, reax
(14 Jun 2008) SHOTLIST Kandahar 1. Wide of Sarposa Prison, hole in roof, traffic on road 2. Closer shot hole in roof 3. Afghan National Army soldiers and police at jail entrance 4. Look-out post, with troops and damage 5. Shopkeeper clearing up debris nearby 6. Soldiers 7. Wide of prison 8. Drive by shot of the damaged area Kabul 9. Various shots of downtown Kabul 10. Exterior of Afghan Ministry of Justice 11. Mid shot sign reading: Ministry of Justice 12. Set-up shot of Afghan Deputy Justice Minister, Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, at desk 13. Close of paperwork on desk 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, Afghan Deputy Justice Minister: "There was of course an attack last night on the prison gate, in fact. In fact there was a lorry loaded with explosions and of course a suicide bomber. They managed to break the door and enter. And then of course they fired some rockets inside the prison courtyard. And as a result one of the floors was demolished, and at that time, of course there was a pre-arrangement programme, I should say, that a large number of prisoners managed to escape." 15. Cutaway 16. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, Afghan Deputy Justice Minister: "Now when this happened, and of course there were some casualties in the beginning and of course when the ISAF forces and the government forces were informed about that, they blocked the roads leading to the prison, and outside of it, and other main roads searching the vehicles to see if they can re-capture those who managed to escape." 17. People walking in street 18. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Vox Pop, Sayed Mansoor, Local resident: "Thousand of prisoners escaped from the jail during the Taliban attack. This shows the weakness, recklessness and helplessness of our government that they couldn't do anything about this." 19. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Vox Pop, Ewaz Ali, Local resident: "The Taliban are getting stronger day by day, whether we talk about it or not, in Ghazni, Kandahar and other provinces. I think our government should plan more effective tactics and the international community must look again at the security situation in Afghanistan and take action." 20. Various shots of traffic STORYLINE: More than 600 prisoners escaped during a daring Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan on Saturday. Police said the attackers knocked down the front gate and destroyed a two-storey police checkpoint, killing at least nine police, according to local police officials. Pictures from the scene showed the devastation at Sarposa Prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan's second biggest city. The assault included a truck bomb at the main gate, a suicide bomber who struck a back wall and rockets fired from outside, setting off a series of explosions. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said 30 insurgents on motorbikes and two suicide bombers attacked the prison and freed about 400 Taliban members. A senior police official said more than 600 prisoners escaped and eight died in the attack. More than 30 nearby shops were damaged. The country's deputy justice minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai told AP Television that International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and government forces blocked roads surrounding the prison complex in the aftermath of the attack, "searching vehicles to see if they can re-capture those who managed to escape." Kandahar was once the Taliban's stronghold and its province has been the scene of fierce fighting during the past two years between insurgents and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops, primarily from Canada and the US. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
