Collaboration

A man rides past Kandahar's main jail in Kandahar April 25, 2011. Insurgents tunnelled into the main jail in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province on Monday, freeing hundreds of prisoners, including many Taliban commanders, a serious setback for US forces who hope to start withdrawing in coming months. [Photo/Agencies]

Analysts said the escape was a serious setback for security, and there was doubt about whether it could have happened without the help of guards.

"It is either a case of the jailers being financially motivated and being bribed, or a case of them being politically motivated," said Waheed Mujhda, a Kabul-based analyst and expert on the Taliban.

Justice Ministry spokesman Farid Ahmad Najibi said he could not rule out the possibility guards had helped in the escape.

Whether the insurgents had all escaped through the tunnel or not, the freeing of hundreds of prisoners, including Taliban militants, is embarrassing for the Afghan government and foreign troops who have trumpeted recent security gains in and around Kandahar after months of heavy fighting, Mujhda said.

The brazen jailbreak comes months before the start of a transfer of security responsibilities from foreign to Afghan forces in several areas -- including the main city in neighboring Helmand province -- as part of the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

Under the transition program, Afghan forces would begin taking over from foreign troops in seven areas this summer and should have control of the whole country by the end of 2014.

While Kandahar is not among the areas listed for the transition of forces in the first stage, Monday's jailbreak raises serious questions about the readiness of Afghan forces to take over from foreign troops.

The jailbreak also drew comparisons to a similar incident three years earlier. In 2008, Taliban insurgents blew open the gate of the Kandahar prison at night, allowing up to 1,000 inmates, including hundreds of Taliban insurgents, to escape.

Days after that escape, hundreds of Taliban fighters seized villages in districts close to Kandahar and appeared to threaten the city itself, with the government sending more than 1,000 extra troops from the north as reinforcements. Nearly 100 Taliban fighters were killed in the ensuing battle.

U.S. soldiers and an interpreter (R) keep watch in front of a house from inside which a tunnel was dug and used by Taliban inmates to escape from the Kandahar's main jail April 25, 2011. Insurgents tunnelled into the main jail in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province on Monday, freeing hundreds of prisoners, including many Taliban commanders, a serious setback for U.S. forces who hope to start withdrawing in coming months. [Photo/Agencies]