Afghan Special forces have freed 61 prisoners from a Taliban controlled jail in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, an official said on Friday.
He reiterated that the prisoners were freed after an operation conducted by Afghan Special forces in the province’s Kajaki district on Thursday; two militants were reportedly killed during the rescue mission.
According to Afghan officials, the prisoners were jailed for alleged offences, including cooperating with the government to spy on the Taliban and not abiding by the militants’ rules.
The prisoners were kept in poor conditions, not fed properly and were often tortured by the militants before being rescued by Afghan special forces.
The rescued prisoners are now in a military facility in Helmand and will rejoin their families later on Friday according to Afghan officials.
It was further reported that over 350 prisoners had been rescued from four Taliban prisons in Helmand over the past three months; the Taliban controls nine of 14 districts in Helmand and 56 per cent of the population.
Afghan Special forces have been under pressure lately having been forced to fight on two fronts; The Islamic State and the Taliban have been carrying out major attacks in Afghan cities close to major elections.
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Suicide attacks as well as raids are carried out by the Taliban and IS fighters on both civilian and military targets; including voter registration centres.
The Taliban have repeatedly refused overtures by the Afghan government for peace and reconciliation, including a share of government power. The Taliban responded to the last overture by carrying out a suicide attack on a police training facility in Kabul.
The Afghan Special Forces have their work cut out for them as they struggle to secure the country ahead of the general elections which has as many as 9 million newly registered voters. Certain districts remain in the hands of the Taliban.
The Taliban were in control of Afghanistan before the US led invasion toppled the Islamic government.
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