The Afghan authorities are looking for Tuesday, August 4, about 270 prisoners, most members of the Islamic State group, on the run since the bloody attack on their prison in Jalalabad (east).
Read also: Afghanistan: in Taranak, the secret alliance of the Taliban and the army against the Islamic State
At least 29 people, including civilians and prisoners, were killed in the prison storm on Sunday by ISIS jihadists, with fighting that lasted until Monday afternoon. More than 1,300 prisoners tried to escape, a senior Afghan security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
While most were captured or surrendered after being surrounded, "270 are still in the wild," he said. "Most of the escapees are people from the ISKP," said the official, referring to ISIS in Khorasan Province, the group's eastern branch. Some are responsible for attacks, another security official told AFP.
Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, confirmed that many prisoners were still on the run, without being able to specify the number of IS members among them. The attack on the prison broke three days of relative calm on the last day of a truce between Afghan forces and the Taliban. ISKP was not participating in this ceasefire. The Afghan government still linked the attack to the Taliban, accusing the group of killing 20 civilians and wounding 40 during the ceasefire, violating the truce 38 times.