Afghan forces free 32 detainees from Taliban prison in Helmand

An Afghan National Security Forces serviceman takes position during a military operation in Helmand Province on August 12, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Afghan security forces have launched an attack on a prison controlled by Taliban militants in the country’s restive south, freeing up to 32 detainees.

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said special forces stormed the Taliban-run prison in Nad Ali district in the southern troubled province of Helmand late on Sunday after gathering intelligence that the militants had been holding dozens of civilians and security personnel in captivity there.

Four of those freed were policemen and the rest were civilians, according to a statement by the ministry.

In a similar raid last May, Afghan special forces freed more than 60 prisoners held by Taliban in the same province, which has long been a stronghold of the militant group.

Over the past months, Afghan security forces have been busy foiling attacks by Taliban in Helmand and the northern city of Kunduz, the capital of a province with the same name.

Helmand has long been a stronghold of the group.

The militant group lost its grip over Afghanistan in the 2001 US-led military invasion, but security has not been delivered to the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil.