I am starting a new thread on Bannu jailbreak as the focus of discussion will change dramatically after this report:
**Intelligence agencies warned of Bannu jail attack
**ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s intelligence services warned the government three months ago about a possible attack on a prison in the restive northwest that was raided at the weekend, officials said Tuesday.
On Sunday nearly 400 prisoners, including militants, escaped from a jail outside the town of Bannu after an attack by insurgents armed with guns, grenades and rockets.
The intelligence information was conveyed to the government through a letter dated January 5, 2012, a copy of which was seen by AFP.
The letter identified Bannu jail as a target, along with the Pakistan Air Force base in the northwestern garrison town of Kohat, the Kohat cantonment and a police station.
**
“The intelligence information about the possible attacks was shared with the government in January 2012,”** a senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
More than 150 heavily-armed militants stormed the prison where Taliban and al Qaeda linked militants have carved out their stronghold.
**The government had also been warned of future attacks which would not be confined to the troubled northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
**
Another intelligence official said: “Intelligence agencies had intercepted that an attack on Bannu jail to free inmates was being planned. But the date and time of the attack was not known.”
He also said Kohat air base, cantonment and Bannu jail had been identified as targets and that law enforcement agencies had been informed.
DAWN
Another feather in the cap of the government. Isn’t it exactly what had happened when Sri Lankan team was attacked? Despite being warned by intelligence agencies, the Lankans were attacked in Lahore. And now another amazing examaple of good governance .