Taliban attack prison in Pakistan

Taliban militants armed with guns, grenades and bombs attacked a prison in northwest Pakistan. DI Khan Commissioner Mushtaq Jadoon said 243 prisoners including 30 militants escaped. However, police arrested six of them during the operation. Police said five suicide bombers were killed by security forces, according to Pakistan's (Geo News). The attack on the hundred-year-old detention facility was blamed on weak security arrangements where inmates belonging to various banned organizations were held. Nine people including six policemen were killed and 14 others injured in the audacious attack while four prisoners were also killed by security forces. A curfew was clamped in the area after the militant engaged the security forces in a gunfight. The area plunged into darkness as the attackers destroyed electricity transformers. Officials said that the curfew was imposed to avoid any damage to public. Police and security forces rushed to the detention facility and cordoned off the area as militants attacked the prison with heavy weapons including mortars. According to reports gun shots and almost 60 explosions were heard inside the prison. The proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack and said that over 100 militants, including suicide bombers took part in the attack. In April 2012, Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in the city of Bannu in northwest Pakistan, freeing close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" insurgents. Security Forces Kill Four Militants in Pakistan Four suspected militants were killed as police and other law enforcement agencies conducted a raid near Eastern bypass, Pakistan's Geo News reported. According to reports, the law enforcers carried out the raid on a tip off about presence of members of a banned outfit in the area. Four suspects were killed while two security officials sustained injuries during an exchange of fire. Heavy cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the possession of the suspects.