Taliban Stages Huge Prison Break

Nearly 500 prisoners have escaped from the main prison in Kandahar City after Taliban militants dug a tunnel into the compound. The Taliban dug the 1,000-foot long tunnel over five months. The majority of the escapees are Taliban insurgents, including 100 commanders. The breach highlights the weakness of the Afghan government in the southern regions of the nation, despite an abundance of international troops and advisers. "This is a blow," said a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai. Still, it’s not even the biggest jailbreak in the 1,200-inmate prison’s history: A Taliban attack in 2008 freed 900 prisoners.