PESHAWAR: Authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have sacked 11 jail wardens after declaring them responsible for a prison break incident which freed nearly 400 prisoners, including the mastermind of an assassination attempt on former President Pervez Musharraf.

The Pakistani Taliban said it was behind the brazen assault in April on the prison in Bannu, claiming the armed militants had inside information.

The KP Home Department took the decision under Rule 14 of the Efficiency and Discipline Rules 2011 after hearing and assessing the replies of the employees in response to show cause notices served on them, said the document.

The officers whose services have been terminated include; Mir Laiq Khan, Sayed Khan, Hafiz Mir Hassan Shah, Abidullah, Asif Ali Shah, Muhammad Ibrar, Gul Mir Dali, Ameenullah, Saqib, Nasib Gul and Raqibaz Khan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Prisons Department terminated the services of the 11 jail wardens on account of “their involvement and their gross misconduct” in the worst jail break incident in Pakistan’s history, said a communiqué issued on Wednesday by the KP Home Department.

The attack was the biggest jail break incident in the Pakistan’s history wherein over 200 heavily armed militants, comprising locals and foreigners, stormed the prison, freeing over hundred imprisoned Taliban fighters – among them the high profile Adnan Rashid said to be the mastermind on the suicide attack on Musharraf.

Rashid, a former junior technician of Pakistan Air Force, was convicted after a bomb planted under a bridge in Rawalpindi near Islamabad in December 2003 exploded moments after the passing of Musharraf’s motorcade.

Besides Rashid, the escaped convicts included 20 other prisoners on death row.