Jailbreak, shootout leave Kabul on edge

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thirteen gunmen killed in a shootout on the southern edge of this capital were al-Qaida members who had just broken out of prison, apparently with the help of associates, the Afghan government said Thursday.

The jailbreak Wednesday, coupled with intelligence officials' renewed insistence that an attempted car bombing foiled July 29 was an al-Qaida operation targeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, raised concerns that the terrorist organization might be stepping up operations in Afghanistan.

With skirmishes increasingly rare in recent months, U.S. officials had been saying privately that it had become more difficult to engage al-Qaida forces.

Initial reports of Wednesday's shootout were sketchy. The Afghan government took a day to identify the escapees as members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist group.

The prisoners -- 12 Pakistanis and a Kyrgyz -- broke through a jail window and were given weapons, either inside or outside the jail. Foreign Minister Abdullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name, said the escapees were quickly surrounded by militia and security forces and slain after refusing to surrender. Three killed themselves with hand grenades, he said.

"They were all armed, some with grenades," Abdullah said, adding that how and when the escapees received the weapons was unclear.

The minister said hundreds of al-Qaida operatives remain in Afghan jails.

Also Thursday, the Afghan government showed reporters the late-model Toyota station wagon that it said was packed with about 900 pounds of explosives hidden in seat cushions, side panels and the chassis. A man driving the vehicle was arrested July 29 about a mile from the presidential palace.

The driver confessed to a suicide plot, said National Security Directorate official Amrullah Saleh. The police refused to give the suspect's name or nationality.

Separately, an American soldier was wounded by a sniper's bullet while on patrol in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the third straight day in which American troops had come under attack while searching for members of al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Col. Roger King, the chief U.S. military spokesman here, speculated that the attacks could signal a new offensive, though a limited one made up of small groups of enemy soldiers.

The injured soldier, who was not identified, was in stable condition with a wound to the chest, King said. He was flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on Thursday.

The attacker, in Paktika Province, was not found.

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