More than 20 Iraqi suspects escape detention

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/13/iraq-suspects-escape-detention-baghdad

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More than 20 Iraqi suspects have escaped from a Baghdad detention centre after murdering a guard, in the latest of a series of jailbreaks. There were differing versions of how many were still on the loose.

Interior ministry spokesman Sa'ad Ma'an said 22 people escaped– some of whom had links to al-Qaida. All except three were later recaptured. One prisoner was killed in clashes outside the centre, he said.

But three police sources told Reuters at least 14 prisoners were on the run from the facility in Kadhimiya, north-west Baghdad. They said 11 people were recaptured but a prisoner and a police officer were killed.

Hakim al-Zamili, a member of a parliamentary committee which oversees the performance of the security services, said the prisoners had pretended that one of them was critically ill and lured a guard into their cell. They then attacked him with sharp weapons, seized his gun and escaped.

"This area is very fortified because many security institutions are based there, which means that the escaped suspects got help from inside to guide them smoothly out," he said.

A co-ordinated attack in July freed hundreds of prisoners from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail, the boldest insurgent operation in Iraq in more than five years. An al-Qaida affiliate, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), claimed responsibility.

Iraq is going through its worst wave of violence in the last five years and ISIL insurgents have increased their attacks on civilians and government targets.

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