At least one suicide bomber reportedly breached the gate of the prison at Ghazni, allowing others to force open cells. A number of local Taliban commanders were reportedly freed.
U.S. combat forces left last year and there have been a number of troubling signs this year. They include a rise in deadly attacks and renewed friction between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In an audio statement attributed to the al-Qaida leader, Ayman Al-Zawihiri says he backs the Taliban's Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was chosen to replace the deceased Mullah Omar.
Irek Hamidullin, 55, a one-time Soviet tank commander in Afghanistan, stayed behind after Moscow's forces were withdrawn in 1988. He went on to mastermind a 2009 attack on an Afghan base.
Sources within the extremist organization confirmed the death of Mullah Omar, who reportedly died in 2013. A gathering of the group's leaders has chosen Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as his successor.