Baghdad: At least 12 guards of a prison in the Iraqi city of Tikrit were killed after unidentified armed militants attacked the prison and freed several inmates including hardcore al-Qaeda affiliates.
According to reports, the militants attack the prison late on Thursday night erupting fierce battle between the guards and the militant. A suicide bomber also detonated a car bomb at the gates of Tasfirat prison.
The attack lasted into the early hours of Friday, and at one stage the militants controlled all the gates of the Tasfirat prison, about 160km (100 miles) north-west of Baghdad.
But later in the day the security forces claimed to recapture the prison from the militants. A curfew has now in place in the area followed by a hunt operation carried out by the forces in the nearby areas.
According to Iraqi lawmaker Hakim al-Zamily, “hardcore” al-Qaeda militants were among those who managed to escape.
Mr Zamily, who is a member of the parliamentary security committee, said that the escapees seized documents identifying people who had provided information about them to the authorities.
The personal files on the inmates were also destroyed, he said, making it “impossible” to track them down.
In addition, the attackers reportedly took with them a police car and weapons seized from the guards.
No has yet claimed the responsibility of the attack, but it seemed that the al-Qaeda fighters were implementing the plan announced by their leader, which said that the terror organization was launching new campaign to ‘regain territories’ and ‘free inmates.’
