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Reports on the death of eight people following an attempted prison break by inmates from the terrorist group Al Qaeda incarcerated in the main prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 17, 2004. Death of four prison guards in the incident; Number of foreign Al Qaeda members at the prison; Details of the attempted escape.

The article reports on the escape of four terror suspects from the American military detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan. According to military officials, the suspects picked the cell lock, changed out of their prison uniforms and escaped from the heavily guarded military base to a getaway vehicle. The escape, which occurred on July 11, 2005, set off an intense manhunt. Internal military documents and interviews with intelligence and military officials indicate it was a far more serious breach than the U.S. Defense Department has acknowledged. One of the four suspects was identified as Al Qaeda's highest-ranking operative in Southeast Asia.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Government officials struggled on Tuesday, but with limited effect, to contain the damage from a spectacular jailbreak that freed 475 inmates, most presumed to be Taliban fighters, from southern Afghanistan's largest prison. Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar Province, where the prison break occurred, announced that security forces had detained steadily mounting numbers of escaped detainees throughout the day. By day's end, however, he conceded that while 71 people had been detained, the descriptions of only 41 men matched those of escapees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a brazen attack, Taliban fighters assaulted the main prison in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Friday night, blowing up the mud walls, killing 15 guards and freeing around 1,200 inmates. Among the escapees were about 350 Taliban members, including commanders, would-be suicide bombers and assassins, said Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of Kandahar's provincial council and a brother of President Hamid Karzai. ''It is very dangerous for security. They are the most experienced killers and they all managed to escape,'' he said by telephone from Kandahar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On the night of July 10, 2005, an obscure militant preacher named Abu Yahya al-Libi escaped from an American prison in Afghanistan and rocketed to fame in the world of jihadists. The breakout from the Bagram Air Base by Mr. Libi and three cellmates -- they picked a lock, dodged their guards and traversed the base's vast acreage to freedom -- embarrassed American officials as deeply as it delighted the jihadist movement. In the nearly three years since then, Mr. Libi's meteoric ascent within the leadership of Al Qaeda has proved to be even more troublesome for the authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports the escape from prison of Ismail Khan, the former governor of Herat with the help of Taliban intelligence officer Hekmatullah Hekmati in Afghanistan. Family background of Hekmati; Participation on important Taliban meetings; Details on the escape.

Focuses on concerns that senior Taliban leaders may be escaping Afghanistan, or bribing their way to freedom, due to the slow surrender of Taliban soldiers. Belief of Afghan leaders that some Taliban have escaped; Attack on an Al Qaeda camp by United States warplanes; Possibility that Taliban and Al Qaeda forces are sheltering senior leaders, including Mullah Muhammad Omar; Confusing and competitive nature of the surrender negotiations.

Reports on the hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden and a report by Afghan officials that he has escaped to Pakistan. Skepticism of the United States; Brief details of the report from Muhammad Habeel, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry; Destruction of a Taliban leadership compound by U.S. warplanes; Comments of General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on targeting Al Qaeda leaders.

Presents news briefs related to the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States and their aftermath, as of December 18, 2001. Push by the United States to expand the war on terrorism beyond Afghanistan; Argument presented to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) representatives by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; Mass exodus of Afghan Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters into Pakistan; Aid for New York; Availability of an anthrax vaccine for Capitol Hill and postal workers.

Reports that hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have crossed the Afghan border into Pakistan and disappeared. Efforts of the United States to seal escape routes and question captured fighters; Belief that escaped Al Qaeda fighters evaded the Pakistani Army and blended with tribal Pashtuns; Whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda leaders; Details of troop deployment and military activity in Afghanistan.

Reports on the escape of Taliban units across Afghanistan in November 2001.