Suspects Flee U.S. Base in Afghanistan

Four Arabs believed to be members of Al Qaeda escaped Monday from the U.S. military’s high-security Bagram detention center north of the Afghan capital, triggering an intense manhunt.

“The detainees are suspected terrorists and as such are considered dangerous,” said Lt. Cindy Moore, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Citing operational security, Moore refused to identify the escaped prisoners or provide any other details such as their nationalities. However, Qabir Ahmad, district commissioner for the Afghan government in the Bagram area, said in an interview that “wanted” posters showing the prisoners’ photographs, names and nationalities had been posted in the local bazaar.

Ahmad identified the men as Abdullah Hashimi of Syria, Mohammed Hassan of Libya, Mahmoud Ahmad Mohammed of Kuwait and Mahmoud Fathami of Saudi Arabia.

All four men are believed to belong to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, said Ahmad, who added that he doubted the prisoners were armed when they left Bagram.

“If they’d had weapons with them and fought, they would have been arrested sooner,” he said.

Moore said no U.S. troops were injured in the prison break. But she would not provide any details on how the suspects managed to escape from one of the most heavily fortified bases in Afghanistan.

“We’re looking into that and I’m sure there will be a complete investigation as to what occurred,” she said.

The prisoners escaped about 5 a.m. Monday. U.S. helicopters and ground troops were still searching for them Monday night, as were Afghan police and soldiers.

The approximately 450 people being held at Bagram normally wear orange prison uniforms.

Monday’s breakout is the first known escape from Bagram, and the latest embarrassment for a detention center already under the cloud of torture allegations.

A U.S. Army investigation concluded earlier this year that two Afghan detainees were beaten to death over several days in 2002 at what is officially called the Bagram Collection Point.

One of the tortured prisoners, a taxi driver named Dilawar, was chained by the wrists to the ceiling of his cell and repeatedly beaten by interrogators for several days until he died, the Army investigation concluded.

The base at Bagram is also the headquarters for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, which number more than 16,000. The sprawling air base was built by Soviet forces during their occupation of Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.

The rural area surrounding the base, about 25 miles north of Kabul, is home to villagers intensely loyal to former commanders in the Northern Alliance, the militia that helped U.S. forces overthrow the Taliban in late 2001. So the escaped prisoners are not expected to receive much help from residents. But the towering Hindu Kush mountains, less than 20 miles northeast of Bagram, could provide an escape route to Taliban-held areas in eastern Afghanistan.

The Taliban and its allies have intensified their insurgency since heavy winter snow began to melt in March. Late last month, insurgents shot down a U.S. special forces transport helicopter in the Hindu Kush mountains of eastern Kunar province, killing all 16 troops on board. The military personnel were trying to rescue a four-man reconnaissance team of Navy SEALs that had been ambushed by Taliban guerrillas in the same area. Only one of the SEALs was found alive.

At least 50 U.S. military personnel have died in hostile action so far this year. About 700 Afghans have died, most of them suspected militants or civilians killed in insurgent attacks.

The U.S. military announced Monday that it was sending about 700 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to Afghanistan to help improve security ahead of national parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18.

“The Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and coalition forces, along with this additional airborne battalion, will provide greater flexibility to continue offensive operations and enhance security during the election period,” Army Brig. Gen. Jack Sterling, deputy commanding general of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

“We want to provide Afghanistan with an environment for democracy to flourish,” he added. “It is our goal to allow security that promotes participation in the election process.”

As troops searched for the escaped prisoners Monday, the U.S. military announced that it had released 76 detainees from Bagram on Saturday under a program called “Strengthening Peace.” The prisoners had been arrested as suspected Taliban members. They were allowed to return home under the supervision of tribal elders as part of a broader effort to persuade Taliban fighters to surrender.

Since July 2, 199 detainees have been released from Bagram and more will be set free soon, the military said.