Police and troops ringed Kabul's main jail today after hundreds of inmates led by Taliban commanders and a kidnap gang leader took over cell blocks.
View of the main gate of the Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul
More than 1,000 prisoners took over parts of the Pul-i-Charkhi prison on Kabul's eastern outskirts late on Saturday. Inmates said that four of their number had been killed and 38 wounded since.
Ringleaders of the riot included Timoor Shah, head of a gang that kidnapped an Italian aid worker in June, and Taliban commanders, said Nader Nadery of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.
He said the prisoners had taken over a wing housing about 70 women inmates and their children, and that officials of the commission and the government were trying to convince them to give up.
Mr Nadery said Taliban suspects, about 200 of whom were being held without trial, were demanding to be tried or freed, and prisoners were also demanding an end to a new rule requiring them to wear uniforms and the removal of cell bars.
Officials said inmates did not appear to have guns, but police said they had makeshift clubs made from broken furniture.
Nadery said there were worries for the women and children: "The fear is the prisoners will try to use them as leverage."
Deputy Justice Minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said there might be 10 or more children with the women. "We are trying to open a channel of negotiations, but they don't have a single representative," he said, adding that two prisoners picked were beaten up by inmates after talks on Sunday.
Hundreds of police and troops backed by tanks and armoured personnel carriers were surrounding the prison on Kabul's eastern outskirts and awaiting orders, an army officer there said. The troops included US soldiers from a force battling the Taliban.
Prison governor General Salaam Bakhshi said two female guards captured were freed late on Saturday.
Sporadic gunfire was heard from the prison complex on Sunday, when prisoners burned bedding and chanted "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest" and "Long live the prisoners".
Officials said at least 30 inmates had been wounded in attempts to quell the riot.