Kabul: Hundreds of Afghan security forces have surrounded the high-security jail in Kabul. The jail is still in the control of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
On Sunday, about 1,300 prisoners at Afghanistan's main jail seized control of a prison block after a riot that prompted wardens to open fire in which up to 7 people were killed and 30 wounded.
Official sources say that the riot started when jail officials tried to distribute uniforms to the prisoners to avoid any possible escape in future.
The prison houses more than 2,000 prisoners, about 350 of whom are Taliban or al-Qaeda militants.
In December 2004, four policemen and four prisoners died in a daylong siege at the same jail.
Male prisoners had taken some women inmates hostage. They were apparently threatening to kill them if their demands were not met although it was unclear what these demands were.
About 150 soldiers from the army's quick reaction unit had surrounded the prison perimeter and were considering forcing their way in, said defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi.
The riot at Pul-e-Charkhi prison, 10 kms from the centre of Kabul, erupted late yesterday when guards distributed new prison uniforms which some inmates refused to wear.
The prisoners had set alight mattresses, clothes and their beds but the fire had been brought under control, Hashimzai said.
They had broken through walls separating different sections of the block, including a women's section, and "have joined together and organised a riot", Hashimzai said.
He said there were about 1,350 prisoners in the block. About 300 of them were allied with the Taliban government ousted in late 2001 or their al-Qaeda alliues, he said. Reports said four were Pakistanis.
Pul-e-Charkhi is Afghanistan's biggest prison and holds more than 7,000 prisoners, 600 of them suspected militants.
(With AFP inputs)
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