Taliban prisoners seize control of British-funded prison in Helmand

Taliban prisoners have seized control of parts of a £4.3 million British-funded prison in Helmand and taken hostages, triggering an armed siege at the flagship aid project. 

 Afghan police and soldiers have been surrounding Helmand central prison for more than two days, after a weekend protest in a wing housing insurgent prisoners spread and erupted in violence.

Inmates seized two prison guards and their assault rifles during the unrest. Other prison guards opened fire, wounding six inmates, but were unable to recover their colleagues.

Naeem Baloch, Helmand's governor, was on Tuesday leading negotiations to end the stand-off and it remained unclear how much of the prison was under government control. 

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