With a well-planned strategy, Taliban militants stormed the Bannu Jail in the wee hours of Sunday and freed 384 prisoners, including some most-wanted and high-profile terrorists.
The escaped prisoners include Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) employee who was sentenced to death for involvement in the attack on former president General Pervez Musharaf, and five female prisoners. They also include around 150 militants linked with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its affiliated groups.
Although the officials declined knowing details, there are reports that among the escaped inmates there were some foreign militants, including three fugitives of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, arrested in 2008. The movement’s top commander, Saifullah Asad, was killed in the attack.
Officials and eyewitnesses said that about 300 to 500 militants carried out the attack at 1.30am on Sunday. Scores of militants attacked the prison’s main gate, an official said.
The few wardens at the jail attempted resistance, but were soon overcome and surrendered to the invading militants. According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain, clashes between the two sides continued for around two hours. However, the locals say that militants entered the prison after facing a brief resistance by the guards, and broke into the six barracks where their accomplices were locked. “The masked militants were frequently enquiring about Adnan Rashid,” an official said. The masked militants also asked frequent questions about the women prisoners’ barracks, and after breaking its lock, asked five women to embark on their vehicles and took them away, he said.
Soon after the attack, high-ranking police and prison department officials rushed to the site. Heavy contingents of police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) cordoned off the area. Surprisingly, the jail administrator, commonly known as the superintendent, was absent from the important prison along with his deputies. The jail is in the outskirts of Bannu city, which is adjacent to Waziristan, where scores of local and foreign militants take shelter.
So far, the exact identity of most of the militants could not be ascertained, but officials believe that the freed inmates included top militant commanders. The escaped women prisoners are also considered linked to militant groups, and could include close relatives of Qari Kamran, who was killed during a military operation in Baazaar Zakhakhel of Khyber Agency a couple of months ago. The leaders of the banned TTP have already expressed resentment over the detention of women who were related to militant commanders.
The jail officials said that they informed senior officials of Bannu police soon after the attack, but police officials say that they could not reach the prison because it was surrounded by militants from all four sides. However, the high-ups in the KP government believe that the incident occurred due to the lapse of security. The KP information minister said that the home secretary had been assigned the task of conducting a complete enquiry. He confirmed the escape of 384 prisoners, and added that some of them had returned.
In response to a question, the minister said that secret agencies had already pointed out the vulnerability of the Bannu prison. In this respect, the provincial government had made up its mind for shifting all imprisoned militants from Bannu to prisons in Lakki Marwat and Kohat, he said, adding that the government could not implement the plan due to certain “legal hurdles”. KP Inspector General of Police (IGP) Muhammad Akbar Hoti said on Sunday that 21 prisoners on death row were among those who escaped during the attack on the prison. Hoti added that 100 prisoners had returned.
Nearly 400 escape in epic Taliban jailbreak
