Pakistani soldiers are pursuing escaped Afghan prisoners, mostly Arabs from the al-Qaeda network, who overpowered their guards and fled for in Pakistan, yesterday.
The government said prisoners commandeered a bus taking them to a larger prison in Peshawar yesterday that lost control and overturned. Seven Arabs died in the struggle, and all six guards were killed, it said. Three more Arabs later died of their wounds.
Residents of the town of Parachinar said Pakistani soldiers clashed early today with 20 escaped Arabs, killing two of them. The reports could not be independently verified. Government officials refused to comment today.
Paramilitary forces sealed off the area, setting up checkpoints every six miles on all roads. Trucks mounted with machine guns patrolled the roads and barren hills along the border, blocking the exit of al-Qaeda fighters from Afghanistan.
The prisoners who revolted were among 156 captured earlier this week. They were driven out of caves in the Tora Bora region after weeks of US bombing and ground attacks by tribal Afghan fighters backed by US and British special forces.
AP