Afghan official: 870 inmates escaped

[June 14, 2008]  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- An Afghan police chief says almost 900 prisoners have escaped in a Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan.

Kandahar provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib says 390 Taliban prisoners were among the 870 inmates who escaped from the prison during the multi-pronged Taliban attack late Friday.

However, Brig. Gen. Carolos Branco, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, is giving a slightly higher number. He says 1,100 prisoners escaped. It was not immediately clear why the two numbers were different.

Branco is conceding that the Taliban operation was a "success," but he insists the assault will have no longterm strategic impact.

[Associated Press; By NOOR KHAN and JASON STRAZIUSO]

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