Al Qaeda backing
Ansar al Aseer was mainly funded by the Taliban and helped by al Qaeda trainers, two Taliban militants said. Three of the al Qaeda trainers a Saudi Arabian, a Kuwaiti and a Yemeni were killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan last month, one of the militants said.
Ansar al Aseers aim is to attack the jails and sub-jails where our mujahideen brothers are present, a senior Taliban commander told Reuters. Financially it is supported by a number of groups
al Qaeda provides support and weapons training to the new recruits.
But militant sub-groups frequently disband or change names to confuse security services or as loyalties shift, said Saifullah Mahsud of the Fata Research Centre, which tracks militant activity in the tribal areas.
The jailbreak was the first time many militants had heard of Ansar al Aseer, he said.
The attack on Dera Ismail Khan jail underscored the militants ability to infiltrate the security forces. A handful of fighters went to town three months beforehand to cultivate police and prison contacts, a security official said.
One such sympathiser opened the prisons main gate for the militants, he said.
The jailbreak itself had been meticulously planned. Some fighters donned police uniforms. Others disguised as a military convoy roared down from the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan. Plainclothes fighters cut power to the jail and set up nine roadblocks to ambush reinforcements. Radio messages tricked soldiers into preparing for an attack on the barracks.
The tactics were so successful that the attackers did not use the seven suicide bombers they had on standby, the security official said.
After the attack, authorities said they would beef up security around high-profile detainees. But few think that will deter future raids.
The state is not waking up, the security official said. We are going to see more of these attacks.
Prison escapee evolves into al Qaeda-backed jailbreak artist – The Express Tribune