Kandahar Central Jail

Kandahar Central Jail, also known as Sarpuza Prison, is a minimum-security prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is located next to the Kandahar-Herat Highway in the Sarpuza neighborhood, which is between the neighborhoods of Mirwais Mena and Shahr-e Naw, in the western part of the city. Its current warden is Sayed Akhtar Mohammad Agha Hussaini.

The Kandahar Central Jail has been historically used for the incarceration of common criminals of Kandahar Province, some of whom turn out to be innocent and released. In the last two decades, the facility has also been used to house Taliban and other insurgents. In 2017, the prison had approximately 1,900 inmates.

The prison has been subject to two major escapes, first in a coordinated attack in May 2008, and latter in a tunneling escape in April 2011. There has been discussions on relocating Kandahar Central Jail to the neighboring Daman District, which is to the southeast of Kandahar District. Over 1,000 prisoners were released from the prison by Taliban forces in August 2021, after they gained control of the city as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive.

History
The year in which the Kandahar Central Jail was built is unconfirmed. It was renovated in the 1960s to house common criminals of Kandahar Province. Two prisoners who had committed murders were executed by hanging in 1972. During that time some western tourists caught with drugs were also held here pending trial. It was pretty casual in the jail for the westerners. Hashish smoking was allowed inside the prison. There was in fact a large hookah set up under a tree that the inmates smoked from. During the 1980s, the facility was used by KHAD to detain and torture members of the Afghan mujahideen.

According to American intelligence analysts, the Taliban used the prison as a "political prison". The Taliban had confined Ismail Khan at Sarpuza prison for a short time in 1999. Guantanamo detainee Abd Al Rahim Abdul Raza Janko described being held in the prison following his torture by the Taliban.

The record shows that the prison continued to be used during the Islamic Republic era for detention and interrogation. Guantanamo detainee Sultan Sari Sayel Al Anazi faced the allegation that when he was held in the prison, prior to being sent to Guantanamo: he was among the detainees who collaborated with other prisoners to hide money in mattresses and bed frames.

A number of the captives were later transported in May 2012 to extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, and finally to the Parwan Detention Facility next to Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.

Prison attack of 2008
In May 2008, about 200 prisoners went on hunger strike protesting detention without charge for up to two years. Many others faced summary trials they felt were unfair. Forty-seven inmates physically stitched their mouths shut. The strike ended when the Afghan parliament agreed to review their detentions. On June 13, 2008, the Taliban orchestrated the escape of around 1,200 prisoners, including 350 Taliban by having two suicide bombers in a tanker truck blow up the main gates. Subsequently, 30 men arrived on motorcycles, killed 15 guards, and broke the locks on every cell.

Tunneling escape of 2011
On April 24, 2011, a 350m tunnel that had been dug across a highway and under the prison walls, was used in the escape of about 475 Taliban inmates. The escape has been compared to the Stalag Luft III tunnel escape in World War 2. The breakout was not detected for four hours, during which most of the prisoners were transported away. It was reported that at least 71 of the escapees were recaptured.

Riot and release of prisoners in 2021
During the Battle of Kandahar, which was part of the 2021 Taliban offensive, a riot broke out in the prison in which one prisoner was killed and 10 others injured. After gaining control of the city on 12 August 2021, the Taliban released over 1,000 prisoners.