By Radio Free Afghanistan
May 25, 2021
Afghan officials say local commandos have released 41 people from a Taliban prison in the country’s western province of Herat.
Jilani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor, told RFE/RL on May 25 that 19 members of the Afghan security forces were among those freed during the overnight operation in the Pashtun Zarghon district.
Seven prison guards were killed during the operation, Farhad said, adding there were no casualties among government forces.
The Special Operations Corps of the Afghan National Army said in a statement that weapons were seized and six motorcycles belonging to the Taliban were destroyed.
The Taliban did not immediately comment on the operation.
Late on May 23, Afghan officials said eight people were freed from a Taliban prison in the northern province of Baghlan.
Fighting has continued across Afghanistan as the withdrawal of international troops proceeds.
The planned pullout of foreign troops by September 11 after two decades has raised concerns of over the fate of the government in Kabul in the face of continued violence by Taliban militants that control large swaths of the country.
With reporting by dpa and TOLOnews