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The Sarposa prison is a high security prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan, used to hold Taliban militants and other criminals including drug traffickers. The prison has been subject to two major escapes, first in a coordinated attack in May 2008, and more recently in a tunneling escape that occurred in April 2011.
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Use by the Taliban
According to American intelligence analysts the Taliban used the prison as a "political prison". Guantanamo detainee Abd Al Rahim Abdul Raza Janko described being held in the prison following his torture by the Taliban.
Post-Taliban use
The record shows that the prison continued to be used in the post-Taliban era for detention and interrogation.
Guantanamo detainee Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi faced the allegation that when he was held in the prison, prior to being sent to Guantanamo: While imprisoned at Sarapuza prison in Afghanistan the detainee collaborated with other prisoners to hide money in mattresses and bed frames in his prison cell.
A number of the captives were later transported in May 2012 to extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, and finally to the Parwan Detention Facility next to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Prison attack of 2008
In May 2008, 200 prisoners went on hunger strike protesting detention without charge for up to two years. Many others faced summary trials they felt were unfair. Forty-seven inmates physically stitched their mouths shut. The strike ended when the Afghan parliament agreed to review their detentions.
On June 13, 2008, the Taliban orchestrated the escape of 1,200 prisoners, including 350 Taliban by having two suicide bombers in a tanker truck blow up the main gates. Subsequently, 30 men arrived on motorcycles, killed 15 guards, and broke the locks on every cell.
Following the prison breakout, the prison was rebuilt with major fortifications.
Tunneling escape of 2011
On April 24, 2011, a 350m tunnel that had been dug across a highway and under the prison walls, was used in the escape of about 500 Taliban inmates. The escape has been compared to the Stalag Luft III tunnel escape in World War 2. The breakout was not detected for four hours, during which most of the prisoners were transported away. Although the government claimed to have re-arrested several dozen escapees, Taliban reports claim this to be untrue.