He said that security authorities in the early had discovered, that the prisoners from the political wing of the building were gone, and that the authorities had only found the tunnel.
National security officials said the tunnel was dug from the outside and went under the Kabul-Kandahar highway and then in the prison. There are conflicting reports on his length of 360 meters, the Taliban said police told journalists that it was more than 1,000 meters. Officials said, would it more definitive information later in the day.
The Governor of Kandahar, WESA Toorylai, had sharp criticism of the security forces. "This is absolutely the fault of the ignorance of the security forces," said Mr Toorylai. "It was not the work of a day, a week or a month activities, which was actually months of work they spent digging and their men free."
Mr Toorylai appealed to the public to inform authorities if they saw Taliban in their area.
It was the second time a large prison break in Sarposa prison, that it has the largest and the most dramatic prison in southern Afghanistan. The prison Taliban, captured numbers and many lower level Taliban in Zabul, Uruzgan and Kandahar including some senior Taliban after security guards work with the prison are accommodated. 13, June 2008 the Taliban orchestrated the release of 1200 prisoners, of whom 350 Taliban were members, in an attack, the 15 guards killed.
The escape comes at a critical moment in the Taliban fight in southern Afghanistan. Driven from their strongholds in the rural areas outside the city, and under pressure from a variety of NATO forces that have broken in the villages, they were able to maintain a presence, but nothing close she had the dominant role a year ago.
Again many able already will bring a large cadre of experienced fighters, of which, to refine their skills in the jail, the Taliban leadership could give the flexibility and resources send fighters into new districts are less NATO forces and strengthen their numbers closer to Kandahar.
"This negative impact on Kandahar the security situation", said Abdul Wahab Salihi, the Deputy intelligence chief in Kandahar. "I don't know how many among them were leaders or celebrities, but we are working and check their background, but if it a fire and you then more wood that it be wil more flames, so these are equipped with escape people in the fire add fuel."
A Taliban spokesman for the South and West of the country, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, said that a total of 541 prisoners had escaped and that among them were 106 Taliban commanders. "Now they are all in ports of refuge," he said.
In a skillful propaganda ploy, the Taliban has a haunting description of prison break in a statement that it sent to the media before the comments by the security authorities, who were only in the process of discovery of the tunnel.
"Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman said in the statement:"we have planned and worked on these five months and the tunnel is 360 metres long,"he said."This was very important for us; "We tried not someone behind, not even one sick or old political prisoner can be."
"Our Mujahedeen worked in a very careful manner" so as not to be discovered, said Mr Mujahid. The tunnel under security check sores outside of prison and under a main road.
At 11 am Sunday three Taliban prisoners went, he said, were the only ones who knew, "from cell to cell, people wake up and lead each of them to the tunnel." More Taliban were the prisoners of the dirt and dust of the tunnel, to lead the behaved prisoners to the waiting vehicles. Also were on the side of Taliban fighters and suicide bombers in the case of the security forces woke up and there was one fight.
Mr Mujahid said "Fortunately we did not have, to use it". "The security forces knew not until dawn."
Tai Moor Shah reported from Kandahar and Alissa j. Rubin Kabul, Afghanistan.
