Al-Qaida, Taliban blamed for rioting at Afghan prison

Authorities still try to regain control.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of Afghan soldiers with tanks and grenade-launchers surrounded Kabul's main prison Sunday after rioting inmates seized control of much of the facility in an uprising that officials blamed on Al-Qaida and Taliban militants.
Local press reported several people were killed and dozens injured. But it appeared security forces had yet to gain access to parts of the jail under prisoners' control, so officials could not confirm reports of casualties. One official said at least four inmates were injured.
Gunshots occasionally rang out as troops tried to keep the prisoners bottled up. Officials said the rioters did not have any firearms but had armed themselves with small knives and clubs fashioned from wrecked furniture.
Smoke could be seen curling out of some cell windows, where inmates apparently set fire to bedding and furniture.
Late Sunday, government negotiators suspended talks to end the standoff at the notorious Policharki jail, which later this year is slated to receive dozens of Afghans currently in U.S. military's Guantanamo prison.
The riot broke out late Saturday in Block Two of the prison, which houses about 1,300 of the 2,000 inmates. Officials said the violence began when inmates refused to put on new uniforms, which were ordered after seven Taliban prisoners escaped last month by disguising themselves as visitors.
Al-Qaida loyalists
Officials said some 350 Al-Qaida and Taliban loyalists were among the inmates in that block. Abdul Salaam Bakshi, chief of prisons in Afghanistan, accused them of inciting the other prisoners, mostly common criminals.
He said no inmates escaped from the prison block but guards had been forced out.
The Afghan army said it deployed 800 soldiers around the prison. Along with NATO peacekeepers, they parked at least 10 tanks and armored personnel carriers outside the gates.
"We have surrounded the jail. There's no way to escape," Mohammed Qasim Hashimzai, deputy justice minister, said.
Hashimzai, who was part of a government delegation that came to negotiate with the prisoners, said at least four inmates had been hurt.
He said about 100 of the rioters from Block Two had taken control of the neighboring wing of the jail housing about 70 women.
Dug a tunnel
Another senior government official, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said prisoners had dug a tunnel to the women's wing -- explaining how they had managed to infiltrate it.
Hashimzai said attempts to negotiate the release of the women from the rioters' control foundered because of disunity among the inmates and confusion over their various demands. Prisoners also backtracked on an agreement to hand over their injured to the International Red Cross, he said.