Af- Pak news......http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Taliban-launch-major-attack-on-Pakistani-prison-free-300-inmates/articleshow/21476041.cms
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban disguised as policemen attacked a prison in the country's northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, freeing more than 300 prisoners late on Monday.
The jail officials said that several of the prisoners, four security personnel and two assailants were killed in the attack. The prison was housing at least 5000 prisoners, 250 of them hardcore militants. Malik Qasim Khattak, advisor to the ministry of prisons, said that around 50 to 60 gunmen attacked the jail with bombs and guns before entering into the detention facility. "They detonated about 60 bombs inside the facility which caused the collapse of prison wall. The assailants succeeded in freeing more than 300 prisoners," Khattak said, adding that the militants blew up two electricity transformers which created complete darkness. While accepting responsibility for the attack, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed that their attackers had freed around 300 inmates.
"We had sent around 150 fighters including a squad of suicide bombers. The aim was to free the inmates and it was a successful action as Taliban managed to free at least 300 prisoners," said Shahidullah Shahid, the newly appointed spokesperson of TTP.
The bombings inside the prison triggered a gunfight between the militants and policemen which continued for hours. As the police personnel could not control the situation, the local administration had called the military. "The attack was so severe and abrupt that we had to call the army to overpower the fighters. As many as 5,000 prisoners including 250 belonging to banned outfits were held in the jail," said Khalid Abbas, deputy inspector general of prisons of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The law enforcement agencies with the help of army had cordoned off the prison and surrounding area before launching an operation. The militants also destroyed all the police vehicles with hand grenades, jail officials said. "The biggest problem for the security forces was to identify the militants as they too were wearing police uniforms. There was complete blackout and it was very much difficult on whom to open fire", Abbas said. He said that prison authorities had recently received a letter from the intelligence agencies informing about a possible attack on prison. The D I Khan prison is the third biggest detention facility in KP. Dera Ismail Khan is on the edge of Pakistan's tribal region of South Waziristan. Pakistan army had launched a military operation against the militants of South Waziristan and flushed them out of the region. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is on the hit list of the militants. About 57 people were killed in twin suicide blasts on Friday in Kurram tribal region. Shaukat Yousafzai, KP's information minister, said that the incident might be a continuation of the current wave of terrorism in the province.
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Pakistan Taliban prison raid frees hundreds |
About 250 inmates escape in attack that also left six dead and eight injured in northwest city of Dera Ismail Khan.
Last Modified: 30 Jul 2013 09:26
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The fighters detonated a series of bombs to destroy the prison's boundary wall [EPA}
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| Taliban fighters armed with mortars and grenades have attacked a prison in northwest Pakistan, escaping with about 250 prisoners after a gunfight with security forces, officials have said. At least 12 people, including six police. were killed and eight others wounded in the assault, staged by fighters disguised in police uniforms, officials said. The attack in the town of Dera Ismail Khan began late on Monday with a huge explosion, intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters. The fighters then detonated a series of smaller bombs to destroy the prison's boundary wall. Security forces engaged the attackers, who were chanting "God is great" and "Long live the Taliban". "Police and other law enforcing agencies are busy in clearing the jail," a senior government official Mushtaq Jadoon said, adding authorities have imposed a curfew in the city and asked residents to stay at home. Pakistan's military confirmed that it had deployed forces to respond to the raid. Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the capital, Islamabad, said: "I would describe it [the attack] as extremely calculated." Some of the Taliban fighters were using loudspeakers and calling the individual names of inmates to come out of the badly damaged prison, he said. Officials have said that 40 to 45 so-called high-profile or high-value prisoners were freed, our correspondent added. Taliban claim responsibility Provincial prisons chief Khalid Abbas said the attackers escaped after a three-hour long gunfight with security forces. "Security forces have entered the prison and cleared the building after which we have started counting prisoners with flashlights as there is no power in the prison and it is making our job difficult," Abbas told AFP news agency. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a spokesperson. The group said that "over 100 fighters" had attacked the prison. The Taliban have been waging a deadly uprising against the government for years that has killed thousands of security personnel and civilians. Dera Ismail Khan, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is located on the edge of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal area, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. The jail, which housed about 5,000 prisoners, is near the bordering town of Tank and adjacent to volatile South Waziristan Agency, the main area of influence of the outlawed TTP. In April 2012, Taliban fighters armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in the city of Bannu in northwest Pakistan, freeing close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" fighters. |
Scores Killed in Bombings as Afghan Military Touts ‘Progress’
Claims 83 Taliban Were Killed in Ongoing Operations
by Jason Ditz, July 29, 2013
Scores of Afghans, including a number of civilian bystanders, were killed today in a pair of bombing attacks in Zabul and Kandahar, while dozens were reported injured in smaller attacks.
This is business as usual for Afghanistan, where every day seems to hold more bloody attacks, and the Afghan government, along with NATO occupation forces, continue to trumpet “progress” that doesn’t seem to mean anything on the ground.
Today, the Afghan military is trumpeting “ongoing operations” in Logar and Nangarhar, claiming that they have killed 83 militants in that fighting, while only loosing three of their own fighters.
The Afghan Defense Ministry’s kill counts are almost always disputed by local fighters within a day or two, but the accuracy of the gaudy tolls are really beside the point since similar offensives have been ongoing for over a decade and haven’t amounted to any meaningful changes on the ground.
For those who desire to arm syrian rebel factions , words of caution as we observe what has happened in Egypt....
Egypt: Jihadists Used US-Made Missile to Attack Sinai Base
How Group Got US Missiles Unknown
by Jason Ditz, July 29, 2013
Three soldiers were injured today when a rocket hit a military building in the Sinai Peninsula city of el-Arish, according to Egypt’s Interior Ministry. Though violence has been soaring in Sinai since the Egypt junta announced it’s offensive, termed “Operation Desert Storm,” this incident is noteworthy because the Interior Ministry report claims that the missile was a “US-made ballistic missile.”
The claim is particularly unusual because the Interior Ministry report provided specific information on its believed specifications, putting it at 168 cm long and 25 cm in diameter and saying it was fired from a “great distance.”
That doesn’t appear to exactly fit the specifications of any US missiles, and is quite a bit larger than the shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles that one would conceivably find being swapped around by militant factions, resembling more the size of something fired by a vehicle.
If the claims prove accurate, this could be a huge scandal for the US, and a big unanswered question as to how a local militant faction came by such huge US weaponry. The timing is doubly inopportune as the US is planning a massive influx of weapons to rebels in Syria, adding to the question of whether those arms will also end up getting passed around the region and end up in the hands of random factions as well.
Meanwhile , scores of people die in another bloody Iraqi day - this time ninety dead.....
Shi’ites Focus of Attacks That Leave 90 Dead, 266 Wounded across Iraq
by Margaret Griffis, July 29, 2013
At least 90 people were killed and another 266 were wounded across Iraq today. Many were killed in a series of coordinated attacks against Shi’ites across Baghdad and southern Iraq.
The casualty figures in Baghdad alone reached 40 dead, while another 162 were wounded. Among these attacks: Four people were killed and 15 more were woundedin a blast in Habibiya. A bomb in Shabb killed one and wounded 14 more. In Bayaa,two people were killed and eight more were wounded. Six people were wounded in a blast in Abu Dsheer. In Tobchi, a bomb killed three people and wounded 12 more. A car bomb in Kadhimiya killed one person and wounded ten more. Two people were killed and seven more were wounded when a bomb exploded inside a perfume shop near Ani Mosque in Waziriya. A bomb in Mahmoudiya killed three people andwounded as many as 16 more. Two people were killed and 10 more were wounded in a blast in Shurta al-Rabeaa. A car bomb in Risala left one dead and 10 wounded. InHurriya, two bombs left four dead and 21 wounded. A car bomb blast near a petrol station in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City left five dead and 10 wounded. At leasfour more people were killed and 23 more were wounded in this or a second bombing.
A suicide car bomber wounded three soldiers in Rabeaa; and one soldier may have been killed in this or another attack.
At least one bomb killed four people and wounded as many as 14 more people inKhamsa Mile.
Three people were killed and nine more were wounded during an I.E.D. explosion inMadaen.
In Tikrit Mines planted on a road killed six policemen, including an officer, andwounded four more. A bomb at an army officer’s home left one dead and two wounded when it blew up.
In Jazeera, security forces killed 10 militants.
In Kut, 10 people were killed and 40 more were wounded when bombs exploded near a market and grouping of construction workers. One of the dead was a young girl.
Six people were killed and 19 more were wounded when a bomb exploded near aSamawa market.
Near Baiji, a roadside bomb killed a police commando chief, his aide, and two bodyguards.
Gunmen killed a senior counterterrorism agent in Hit.
A bomb in Hawija last night killed one soldier and wounded seven more.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb wounded five people, including two civilians.
Gunmen in Qadisiya wounded a policeman.
A SWAT officer was killed in a sticky bombing in Ramadi.
In Muqdadiya, gunmen killed a civilian.
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