The Afghan National Army began to intervene in the riot which took place in a major prison in Kabul's suburbs, preparing operations to regain the control of the prison, along with Afghan police Friday evening.

An intense shootout broke out between a group of al-Qaida inmates and prison police early Friday morning, of which at least nine were killed, including five police officers and two al-Qaida inmates, Afghan officials said.

Heavily-armored soldiers and police, with the help of two lighter tanks, are ready to launch operations at any minute to solve the crisis which has lasted for ten hours.

Unmanned US surveillance plane is circling in the area, while NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is standing by in the outer range.

"Except the al-Qaida inmates, other prisoners did not get involved in the clash while the motive of the riot is, perhaps, the hatred for three American inmates in the prison," Abdul Salam Bakhshi, head of the prominent prison in Pule Charki area, 12 kilometers east of Kabul, told Xinhua.

One Iraqi and one Pakistani prisoner were killed in the shootout, and another Pakistani was injured and later sent to hospital.

Since the fall of Taliban in 2001, some 400 Pakistani prisoners have been released from this prison which still has kept around 1,400 prisoners, men and women, including 11 al-Qaida captives in different blocks.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2004)