Islamic State militants stage Iraq prison break

Picture: Iraqi forces walk during a patrol looking for militants from Isis in a neighbourhood in Ramad, west of Baghdad, on May 14, 2014.

Some 50 inmates and 12 policemen are thought to have died in Iraq in a riot at an Iraqi prison holding hundreds of people jailed for terrorism.

The riot happened at the Al-Khalis prison, about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad. Some were killed immediately and others during an extensive manhunt for about 200 fugitive inmates.

“Isis was responsible for the killings and the release of ISIS prisoners,” said Oudi Al-Khadran, mayor of the town where the prison, which holds hundreds of people convicted of terrorism, is located.

“The inmates started fighting among themselves, which drew the attention of the police guards who went to break up the fight,” said one police source.

“Then the prisoners attacked them, stripped them of their weapons and started a riot while also managing to capture the armory of the prison.”

Authorities declared a curfew in Al-Khalis and raided houses in search of escaped convicts, said another police source.

The Iraqi government, which is backed by US. air strikes in its campaign against Islamic State, is also trying to contain widespread sectarian violence.

Such prison breaks have been seen before in Iraq, the most famous being in mid-2013, when militants carried out a carefully orchestrated attack on Abu Ghraib.

They used mortar shells and suicide bombers to free more than 500 inmates.