Pakistani’s Taliban claimed members stormed a prison in the South Waziristan tribal area around midnight on Monday with rocket grenades and suicide bombers, freeing 250 inmates, including several top militants.
Eight police officers were killed in the attack, and another 21 people were injured, NBC reported.
The fighting continued into the early morning hours of Tuesday, police said.
“We received eight bullet-riddled bodies of policemen and 21 injured so far,” and some of the injured are in critical condition, one local doctor told NBC.
A local commissioner, Mushtaq Jadoon, said 30 leading militants and six prisoners on death row were among the freed, Reuters reported.
The escapees are thought to have fled to the tribal regions of lawless South and North Waziristan, Reuters reported. A police officer at the scene, meanwhile, said the militants who stormed the jail had been dressed in security uniforms.
The jail holds more than 3,000 inmates, NBC reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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