GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents stormed a prison in Afghanistan on Monday, killing police and releasing more than 350 inmates, including nearly 150 deemed a threat to national security, and then attacked troops rushing to help, officials said.
The latest Taliban prison raid, on the outskirts of the central city of Ghazni, comes after setbacks for the government in different parts of the country and deadly attacks in Kabul which have dashed hopes for peace talks.
A Reuters reporter outside the mud fort prison in Ghazni, 120 km (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, saw the bodies of two men who appeared to be suicide bombers and a blown-up car that had apparently been used to destroy the main entrance.
Clusters of bullet casings were scattered across the road.
The interior ministry said that 355 of the 436 prisoners had escaped.
Of those who got away, 148 were a "threat to national security and 207 were criminals", the ministry said in a statement.
Four Taliban and four members of the security forces were killed in the attack, the ministry said. Seven police were injured.
Mohammed Ali Ahmadi, deputy city governor, said the prison's security was well below recommended standards because it was so close to Ghazni - only seven km (4.3 miles) from the city center - and it was believed that reinforcements would get there quickly in the event of trouble.
On Sunday, officials concerned about a breakout had transferred 18 "dangerous" Taliban to a jail operated by the Afghan intelligence agency, he said. Seventeen were left behind.
This sounds as if it is like it was taken straight out of one of those John Wayne movies but of course it was not... it was as real as real gets in the Middle East... which is why the terrorists can do what it is that they do so well...
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