Afghan forces free 59 prisoners from Taliban jail

Afghan special forces freed 59 prisoners from a Taliban jail in Helmand, officials said on Saturday, as government troops redouble their efforts to drive back the insurgents who have seized large parts of the volatile southern province.

Islamist militants have launched a series of attacks in the capital, Kabul, in recent weeks and a tough fight is underway in key districts in the south, just as attempts have been made to revive a stalled peace process.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said 37 of the captives freed from the jail, which was just to the north of the Helmand provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, were soldiers. Another seven were policemen and the rest civilians.  

The operation to free the prisoners followed months of fighting in which the Taliban has seized several district centres in Helmand, a major centre of opium cultivation and one of its traditional strongholds.