Afghanistan sets up prison for women

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan launched its first prison for women in the capital Kabul on Thursday as part of a plan to build 15 such facilities, officials said.

Built with the assistance from Italy's government, the jail can accommodate 330 prisoners who currently languish in various prisons on numerous criminal charges.

Located near a residential area in a Kabul suburb, it is equipped and furnished with furniture, sewing machines and kitchen.

Abdul Salaam Esmat, the head of prisons and detention centers, said there were 275 female prisoners lodged in Afghan jails, along with their 175 children.

"Currently we are shifting 96 female prisoners and detainees from Pul-i-Charkhi prison to the new building", he said of the main prison which also holds suspected militants to the east of Kabul.

"We are planning to build 15 more separate detention centers for women prisoners and detainees in other provinces in the near future," he said.

(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi, editing by Sayed Salahuddin and Sanjeev Miglani)