A team of U.S. military police arrived at Afghanistan’s Nangarhar prison following the April 25 prison break at Saraposa, when close to 500 prisoners and Taliban leaders escaped through a 1,000-foot-long tunnel. As the team searches for loopholes, lessons gained could help secure jails throughout Afghanistan.
Several gaps have already been found at the prison, located in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
The assessment team “went to look at the construction to see if there were any noticeable situations that would allow someone to capitalize on a shortcoming to make an escape,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Brion Sullivan, in a press release from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The prison, designed 65 years ago, was only meant to hold 500 to 600 prisoners, yet has instead been home to close to 1,200. Sullivan noted that both construction and sanitation are concerns.
“In comparison to what I’ve seen in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and Cuba, they need a lot of help with cleanliness, and security issues need to be addressed,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Flournoy, a Bronx, N.Y., native, who also works in the provost marshal’s office as a corrections specialist, with 3rd BCT, 25th Inf. Division, according to an ISAF press release.
Other problems have included unauthorized cell phone and television use, in addition to illegal drug trafficking, according to Afghan uniformed police Col. Shir Agha.
The April 25 escape at Saraposa jail served as a wake-up call for prison security. It is believed to have included sources both inside and outside the prison.
For the Afghan government, the Saraposa jail was meant to act as a “symbol of government strength,” as stated by Gen. Mark Martins in a Feb. 10 Department of Defense video conference.
Following a similar incident in 2008, when a surprise raid and suicide attack freed up to 900 inmates, the jail and the surrounding area was revamped to improve security, and elements were set in place to help root out corruption.
Actions were so successful that the jail set an example for what the United States was planning to “replicate in other areas around Afghanistan.”
Rather than take the April 25 escape as a destructive blow to this plan, however, the United States is instead taking it as a lesson from which to learn, and as an indicator of holes that need patching.
The current assessment at Nangarhar prison is among the first following the incident. Work has already begun to install concrete walls and metal doors—a major upgrade from its former crumbling bricks.
“What [the Afghans] are doing has loopholes, and we’re going to try and close the loopholes,” said U.S. Army Cpl. Justine Bemis, a Corry, Pa., native, with the 127th Military Police Company, in an ISAF press release.
Several gaps have already been found at the prison, located in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
The assessment team “went to look at the construction to see if there were any noticeable situations that would allow someone to capitalize on a shortcoming to make an escape,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Brion Sullivan, in a press release from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The prison, designed 65 years ago, was only meant to hold 500 to 600 prisoners, yet has instead been home to close to 1,200. Sullivan noted that both construction and sanitation are concerns.
“In comparison to what I’ve seen in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and Cuba, they need a lot of help with cleanliness, and security issues need to be addressed,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Flournoy, a Bronx, N.Y., native, who also works in the provost marshal’s office as a corrections specialist, with 3rd BCT, 25th Inf. Division, according to an ISAF press release.
Other problems have included unauthorized cell phone and television use, in addition to illegal drug trafficking, according to Afghan uniformed police Col. Shir Agha.
The April 25 escape at Saraposa jail served as a wake-up call for prison security. It is believed to have included sources both inside and outside the prison.
For the Afghan government, the Saraposa jail was meant to act as a “symbol of government strength,” as stated by Gen. Mark Martins in a Feb. 10 Department of Defense video conference.
Following a similar incident in 2008, when a surprise raid and suicide attack freed up to 900 inmates, the jail and the surrounding area was revamped to improve security, and elements were set in place to help root out corruption.
Actions were so successful that the jail set an example for what the United States was planning to “replicate in other areas around Afghanistan.”
Rather than take the April 25 escape as a destructive blow to this plan, however, the United States is instead taking it as a lesson from which to learn, and as an indicator of holes that need patching.
The current assessment at Nangarhar prison is among the first following the incident. Work has already begun to install concrete walls and metal doors—a major upgrade from its former crumbling bricks.
“What [the Afghans] are doing has loopholes, and we’re going to try and close the loopholes,” said U.S. Army Cpl. Justine Bemis, a Corry, Pa., native, with the 127th Military Police Company, in an ISAF press release.
