Afghan War prisoner escapes
During the2001 Invasion of Afghanistan,manyTaliban,al-Qaedaand militant fighters were captured and held at military bases in the region. On several occasions, there were instances of mass escapes.
2003[edit]
On October 11, 2003, nearly 30 prisoners held nearKandaharmanaged to escape. Some reporters suggested they were actually released.[1]
2005[edit]
In July 2005,Omar al-Faruq,the highest-ranked prisoner at the base and one of the highest-ranked al-Qaeda officers ever captured, escaped along with LibyanAbu Yahya al-Libi,SaudiMuhammad Jafar Jamal al-Kahtaniand SyrianAbdullah Hashimi.
All four prisoners had been individually found guilty of various acts of belligerence, and thus assigned to "Cell 119" in the days before the escape, the only cell set apart from the rest – though obstructed from guards' view.
On the night of July 15, the prisoners were all accounted for at the 01:50 headcount, thenpicked the lockof the cell, changed out of their prison uniforms, sneaked into the main camp area and crawled over a damaged wall and crossed aSoviet-eraminefieldto meet a getaway vehicle.[2]
After their disappearance was noted at the 03:45 headcount, a massivemanhunt,including the use of helicopters, was dispatched, though didn't manage to find any of the escapees. Amilitary policeofficer was initially suspected of aiding their escape, but was cleared.[2]
Initial reports from the U.S. military gave different names for the escapees, and included a reference to LibyanHasan Qayad,who had appeared in a video giving a sermon on the end ofRamadan4 November 2005.[3]
Pentagon spokesmanBryan Whitmanspoke to the press stating that this "clearly wasn't the US military's finest hour".[4]
On 18 October Kahtani released a videotape in Pakistan, detailing the escape and pledging further attacks against Saudi Arabia and United States.
Al-Faruq was killed by British soldiers in Iraq in September 2006.[5]Al-Kahtani was recaptured in Afghanistan in November 2006.[6]Hashimi was killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan in July 2008.[7]Al-Libi was killed in a drone strike in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan in June 2012.[8]Consequently, all the escapees have since been captured or killed.
References[edit]
- ^ "Taliban prisoners escape in south Afghanistan's Kandahar".People's Daily.2003-10-12.Retrieved2010-05-10.
- ^abEric Schmitt,Tim Golden(2005-12-05)."Details Emerge on a Brazen Escape in Afghanistan".The New York Times.Retrieved2010-05-10.
- ^"Key 'al-Qaeda militant' surfaces".BBC News.2005-12-19.Retrieved2010-03-16.
- ^Hirsh, Michael (November 14, 2005)."Qaeda Prison Break".Newsweek.RetrievedAugust 20,2016.
- ^Tavernise, Sabrina (2006-09-26)."Qaeda Operative Is Killed in Iraq".The New York Times.
- ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-06-04.Retrieved2009-09-20.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Al Qaeda: Air strike killed escapee".CNN. 2008-07-31. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-30.
- ^"White House: Al Qaeda No. 2 leader is dead".CNN. 2012-06-06. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-09-17.
External links[edit]
- "Afghanistan: 'Al-Qaeda militant' resurfaces in video".Afghanistan: 'Al-Qaeda militant' resurfaces in video. 2005-12-19. Archived fromthe originalon March 12, 2007.RetrievedMay 9,2010.