Afghan officials say more than a dozen prisoners, including criminals and members of the Taliban, have escaped from a jail in northern Afghanistan.

Abdul Jabar Haqbeen, the governor of Sar-e-Pul province, says a bomb was detonated on the outside of one of the prison walls on Thursday night, and the prisoners escaped through the rubble.

He says guards opened fire, killing three prisoners. Many were recaptured but authorities are still looking for 14 prisoners who managed to escape.

A member of the provincial council, Abdul Ghani, says inmates made the bomb inside the compound and blew up a prison tower. He says he fears the jail break will mean deteriorating security in the province.