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40 freed from Taliban prison in Afghan-U.S. special operations mission, military says

Posted at 9:26 AM, Dec 04, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-04 09:29:45-05

KABUL, Afghanistan — A joint Afghan-U.S. military raid rescued about 40 Afghan soldiers and police officers from a Taliban prison in south-central Afghanistan on Thursday night, U.S. forces in the country said.

The raid, featuring Afghan special security ground forces and Afghan helicopter crews, happened in Helmand province’s Nawzad District, the U.S. military said.

Afghan forces freed about 40 prisoners, including Afghan police officers and soldiers, the U.S military said.

U.S. special operations forces were involved, the military said without elaborating on the U.S. role.

The freed prisoners were handed over to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense to receive medical care, the U.S. military said in a statement. The military said it didn’t have details about the former prisoners’ capture.

The district is more than 500 kilometers (more than 300 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul.