Prisoner, police arrested after Iraqi prison break
Five inmates broke out of a prison in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Friday by climbing through a hole in jailhouse wall, prompting local police to dispatch search teams to pursue them.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Five inmates broke out of a prison in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Friday by climbing through a hole in jailhouse wall, prompting local police to dispatch search teams to pursue them.
"Today, the police forces of the province were able to arrest one of the five escapees," a security source told Alsumaria news outlet. The facility, known as the al-Karrar Prison for Countering Crime, is located in central Najaf.
The outlet quoted another security source shortly after the initial incident as confirming that the "prisoners managed to escape through a hole they made in the prison wall," and that "security services opened an investigation into the incident."
Shortly after the escape, Najaf Governor Najaf Luai al-Yasiri announced the additional arrest of police officers and other individuals, alleging involvement with the inmates' escape plan.
Yasiri said that a committee had been formed to punish the culprits behind the prison break, pointing out that it had already "arrested two officers and four affiliates and they are now being interrogated."
Exact details such as the precise location of the makeshift passageway, the means by which it was made, and the possibility of aid by law enforcement or correctional personnel, have not yet been released.
Editing by John J. Catherine
