Twelve Taliban fighters were mistakenly released from an Afghan prison after wardens received a fake letter claiming to be from the national intelligence agency.
The police spokesman for Kandahar province, Ziaul Rahman Durrani, said on March 2 that the Kandahar prison received a letter on February 25 from the intelligence agency to release 30 inmates.
He said 18 of them were legitimately due for release but that the names of another 12 "were mysteriously added to the letter."
He said two of those not due for release had since been recaptured.
Meanwhile, Afghan police officials say a vehicle that was being rigged with explosives by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan exploded prematurely on March 2, killing at least 13 people, including women and children.
The deputy police chief of Logar Province, Abdul Wali Toofan, said the explosion took place in a bomb workshop in Puli Alam, the provincial capital.
He told reporters, "Nine Taliban, including Pakistanis, plus two women and two children were killed. They wanted to fill the car with explosives and detonate it in a busy part of the city, but it exploded in their house."
The Taliban have not commented on the incident.
The police spokesman for Kandahar province, Ziaul Rahman Durrani, said on March 2 that the Kandahar prison received a letter on February 25 from the intelligence agency to release 30 inmates.
He said 18 of them were legitimately due for release but that the names of another 12 "were mysteriously added to the letter."
He said two of those not due for release had since been recaptured.
Meanwhile, Afghan police officials say a vehicle that was being rigged with explosives by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan exploded prematurely on March 2, killing at least 13 people, including women and children.
The deputy police chief of Logar Province, Abdul Wali Toofan, said the explosion took place in a bomb workshop in Puli Alam, the provincial capital.
He told reporters, "Nine Taliban, including Pakistanis, plus two women and two children were killed. They wanted to fill the car with explosives and detonate it in a busy part of the city, but it exploded in their house."
The Taliban have not commented on the incident.