Fighting ongoing as Daesh attack results in bloody jailbreak in Afghanistan
Afghan officials have confirmed that two dozen people have been killed and dozens more wounded in an ongoing attack by the Daesh terrorist group in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province.
Nangarhar Governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said on Monday that so far, at least 21 people had been killed and 43 others wounded in the attack, which started when the terrorists stormed a prison in Jalalabad City in the province on Sunday evening.
He said security forces had managed to take back control of the prison’s checkpoint but fighting continued in nearby shopping areas.
Afghan sources confirmed that three Daesh assailants — out of an estimated 30 — had been killed.
The attack started with a car bomb explosion near the prison gate. The gunmen then gained entry to the facility and took control of two of the prison towers. Two more explosions were reportedly heard coming from inside the prison afterwards.
Amid the fighting, hundreds of prisoners escaped the jail, which was said to hold some 1,500 inmates. The Afghan security forces, however, announced that they had recaptured many of the escapees.
In related news on Saturday, Afghanistan’s intelligence service announced that Afghan special forces had killed a high-ranking Daesh member in an operation in eastern Afghanistan.
The National Directorate of Security said the slain militant was Assadullah Orakzai, an intelligence commander for Daesh in Afghanistan. Orakzai was killed near Jalalabad. He was suspected of being responsible for several deadly attacks on military and civilian targets in Afghanistan.
The ongoing attack started on the third and final day of a ceasefire between the Taliban militants and the Afghan government.
The two sides are on the verge of completing an agreement for a prisoner swap that is part of a deal between the Taliban and the United States.
Negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban militant group were expected to begin shortly, following the completion of the prisoner swap.
There have been no talks with the Daesh terrorist group.
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