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Iraqi forces foil jail break in Diyala, 30 killed

Xinhua, May 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Up to 30 people were killed when the Iraqi security forces thwarted a jail-break of more than 150 detainees held for terrorism charges in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial security source said on Saturday.

The attempt started when a group of detainees took the gun of a guard during his tour late on Friday night in the jail of the police headquarters in the city of Khalis, just west of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The inmates later seized more departments of the jail, gained more weapons, and clashed with the security forces for more than four hours after reinforcement troops arrived to the scene and retook control of the situation at dawn, the source said.

More than 20 detainees and 10 police officers were killed and 15 more policemen were wounded, the source said, adding that some of the 150 detainees escaped the jail but there is no immediate report about their number.

Prison breaks frequently occurred in Iraq, including the prison break of Abu Ghraib prison in 2013 when hundreds of inmates escaped, including the mass break out of some 500 al-Qaida militants. Enditem