Aljazeera's correspondent in Kabul, Samir Allawi, reports that at least 36 people have been injured in clashes between inmates and guards of a high-security Kabul prison.

The Pul-i-charki Prison is under the direct charge of Afghan security forces but US forces have indirect supervision over it, Aljazeera reports.

Inmates including convicted terrorists clashed with guards in a failed attempt to break out of the jail and then took control of parts of the facility, officials said on Sunday.

Abdul Salaam Bakshi, chief of prisons in Afghanistan, said that guards had been forced out of a block of Pul-i-charki Prison, housing 1300 inmates including al-Qaida and Taliban convicts, on Saturday night.

An Associated Press photographer outside Pul-i-charki heard a short burst of gunfire on Sunday morning. A few minutes later, an ambulance carrying an unidentified patient drove out of the prison.

Mohammed Qasim Hashimzai, deputy justice minister, said some inmates had been injured but prisoners had refused an offer for them to be treated.

He said some inmates were still trying to escape, and about 100 of them had taken control of a women's wing of the prison.

None escaped

Bakshi said police were surrounding the prison and no inmates had escaped.

"All the problem is inside the prison. It's 1300 people. We want to peacefully solve this problem," he said, accusing the al-Qaida and Taliban inmates of inciting other inmates.

A Justice Ministry delegation was visiting the prison on the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday morning to negotiate with the prisoners.

"They have demands, we are going to listen to what they want," Hashimzai said. "If we cannot solve it that through negotiations, we have our own options," he added, but refused to say if that meant using force.

He said the trouble started when hundreds of inmates tried to break out on Saturday night from Block 2 of the prison - which houses various criminals and some 350 Taliban, convicted fighters among them.

Bakshi said the inmates had attacked guards and tried to force their way out of their prison block but were stopped. He said the inmates had small knives and clubs fashioned from wrecked furniture but none were armed. They had also set fire to bedding.

No guards were hurt in the clash, he said. Pul-i-charki has suffered breakouts and riots before.

Past incidents

In December 2004, four inmates and four guards died during a 10-hour standoff that started when some inmates from al-Qaida used razors to wrest some guns from guards and then tried to break out.

Afghan troops stormed the prison and fired guns and rocket-propelled grenades to retake control.

Last month, seven mid-ranking Taliban inmates disguised themselves as visitors and escaped. Some wings of Pul-i-charki are being refurbished to improve security and living conditions.

Some 110 Afghan terror suspects are expected to be sent there later this year from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Afghan officials say.

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