 Taleban militants attacked the prison with a car bomb and rockets |
Afghan security forces are searching for hundreds of prisoners who escaped a jail in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after Taleban fighters blew up the main gate.
An official in the southern city told the BBC about 340 Taleban militants had got away and 15 policemen were killed in the car bomb and rocket attack.
About 1,000 people in all were thought to have escaped, Kandahar provincial council head Wali Karzai said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the city.
A Taleban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, told the Associated Press news agency that 30 fighters on motorbikes and two suicide bombers had attacked the prison, freeing about 400 Taleban members.
Police and troops are on the streets and all residents have been ordered to stay in their homes.
'Major breach'
Prison chief Abdul Qabir said some of the prisoners had chosen to stay behind during the break-out.
An eyewitness told the BBC that the force of the initial blast had been enough to blow out windows up to 3km (1.7 miles) from the prison.
People living nearby also reported hearing blasts from rockets and machine gun fire.
A state of emergency has been declared in the city
A number of high-ranking Taleban field commanders were among those who escaped, an official told Reuters news agency.
The break-out is a major security breach which will be of concern to both the Afghan government and security forces, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul.
Kandahar is one of the key battlegrounds in the Taleban's insurgency against President Hamid Karzai and Nato and US troops.
Last month inmates at Kandahar jail ended a week-long hunger strike after a parliamentary delegation promised to address their demands.
Almost 400 prisoners said they had been denied access to fair trials and some also complained of torture.
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