If we are to accept that this was simply a lucky lightning strike by the Taliban, then we would have to accept that this is the second time that lightning has struck the same prison.

In June 2008, another massive prison break occurred after a suicide car bombing at the Sarpoza’s front gate. During that farcical incident, the Afghan prison guards claimed they engaged the Taliban attackers with small arms fire. Nevertheless, some 1,200 prisoners were able to escape through the gunfire — unscathed!

In just 34 months, more prisoners have successfully escaped from this facility in Kandahar than all the escapees combined in the history of penitentiaries in all of North America.

What is also worth noting is that after the massive 2008 breakout, Corrections Canada stepped up its mentoring efforts at Sarpoza prison. This did seemingly have at least one beneficial result. Of the 1,200 escapees during the previous breakout, it was estimated that only about 400 were suspected Taliban insurgents. The remainder were the usual assortment of murderers, rapists, thieves and petty criminals.

Of course, no one benefits when this sort of human low-life is released back into society. So following the 2008 breakout, it was decided to segregate such criminals from the “political” wing of Sarpoza prison. As such, it was only the Taliban prisoners who exited via the tunnel this time.

After a decade of training, equipping and mentoring the Afghan security forces, we cannot buy Afghan loyalty. And it appears that even our existing rental agreement is an open joke among those on our payroll.