Three dead amid Afghan prison standoff

Afghan local officials are trying to negotiate an end to the standoff in a prison after a riot left three people dead.

Inmates in northern Afghanistan have killed two police officers they had taken hostage during a prison riot in which an inmate was shot dead, an Afghan security official says.

The riot erupted during a search for mobile phones, knives and other contraband, said General Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani, the police chief of northern Jawzjan province.

Five officers and 10 inmates were wounded in the melee.

The inmates managed to take two police officers and a criminal investigator hostage.

They later killed the two officers and set the investigator on fire, thinking he was a prosecutor.

He survived but is in critical condition, Jawzjani said, adding that local officials were trying to negotiate an end to the standoff.

The prison complex, located in the provincial capital Shebirghan, holds about 800 inmates in separate male and female lockups.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world