23 suspects escape from Mosul prison

Twenty-three prisoners have escaped from a detention center in the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police say.

The inmates, including some accused of terrorist acts, fled through a hole made in a wall at the Ghazlani Detention Center on Friday morning, but the prison guards only discovered it in the afternoon.

The prison lies in the southern area of the city, about 390 km (242 miles) north of Baghdad. It is run by Nineveh province security forces in south Mosul.

"All were arrested at different times, and none had yet been judged," a police official who declined to reveal his name said about the escapees and added that authorities have alerted military and police checkpoints in the city to be on the lookout for them.

Mosul has seen a number of big prison breaks. Three years ago, dozens of militants stormed Badoush prison and freed up to 140 prisoners.

In December 2006, the nephew of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein escaped the same prison after he was accused of financing insurgency against US forces.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122287§ionid=351020201.