KABUL (Pajhwok Afghan News): An Afghan commander Tuesday claimed they had recaptured one of the four Arab escapees who broke out of the main US base at Bagram, some 35 kilometres north of here.
Mehboob Amiri, commander of the Quick Action Force, told Pajhwok Afghan News the fugitive was hiding in a mosque in the Gulai village near Bagram. “He had taken refuge in a room used by the prayer leader.”
Without revealing the name or nationality of the man, Amiri added he was apprehended last night in a joint operation conducted by the Quick Action Force and ISAF. He continued efforts were on to track down the remaining three Arabs.
As the US military probed the daring jailbreak for a second day, Afghan officials identified the runaways as Mahmud Ahmed Mohammed (Kuwait), Mahmud al-Fatani (Saudi Arabia), Mohammed Hassan (Libya) and Abdullah Hashimi (Syria).
In a bid to recapture the three militants still at large, a massive manhunt featuring a large number of Afghan and coalition troops and helicopters was in progress in and around the sprawling base in the northern Parwan province.
Marveling at the first-ever escape from the heavily-fortified US base, Afghan officials were still groping for reasons as to how the “enemy combatants” from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Syria fled the high-security detention facility.
According to US estimates, up to 500 suspects are being held at the main US base in Afghanistan, where violence has escalated in the run-up to the September 18 elections. In what appears a taunt for the US-led coalition, Taliban have reportedly offered protection to the Arab suspects. Hakimi told an international wire service the movement was ready to shelter the men, should they approach the ousted student militia.
The escape came weeks after the downing of a Chinook helicopter- seen as a big reverse for the US military - in the troubled Kunar province, where a major anti-insurgency operation is currently underway.
At least 16 American servicemen perished in the crash, the biggest death toll suffered by the US forces in one day in Afghanistan. Three members of a Navy SEAL team that had gone missing in the area were later found dead while one was rescued alive.