In Kunduz, the militants freed 630 inmates, including 13 women and three foreigners, with at least 180 of the released prisoners being Taliban militants. In Nimruz province, 350 inmates were released, with 50 Taliban militants among them.
"Most of them are serving sentences on criminal charges – drug trafficking, kidnapping and armed robbery," director of the prison administration Safiullah Jalalzai said, as quoted by broadcaster.
The Afghan government said it will arrest all the released inmates once it takes control of the territories.
In recent days, the radical group claimed to have captured a number of provincial capitals, with the first one — Zaranj, the centre of Nimruz — said to be seized on Friday. Zaranj has become the first provincial capital to fall to the militants since 2016.
*Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia.