Afghan soldiers arrive at the prison in Jalalabad. Photo: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images
An Islamic State attack on a prison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, turned into a nearly daylong gun battle that saw more than 1,000 Islamic State and Taliban prisoners escape, report the New York Times' Zabihullah Ghazi and Mujib Mashal.
Driving the news: The attack, which started with a car bomb before morphing into an ongoing battle with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, left at least 21 people dead and 43 people wounded.
- It came at the tail end of a three-day ceasefire between the Afghan government and the Taliban, coinciding with the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Why it matters: It showcases the Islamic State's potential to act as a spoiler in the ongoing peace process between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
- The government has long claimed that the Islamic State and the Taliban can share resources and overlap, though the Taliban denied any responsibility in this attack.