Inmate killed as Iraqi forces thwart prison break north of Baghdad

Photos released by the Iraqi military of a thwarted escape attempt at Taji Prison, north of Baghdad. (Photo: Security Media Cell)
Photos released by the Iraqi military of a thwarted escape attempt at Taji Prison, north of Baghdad. (Photo: Security Media Cell)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi forces announced on Saturday that they had thwarted an escape attempt by three inmates of a prison north of Baghdad.

According to a statement by the military press office known as the Iraqi Security Media Cell, said in a statement that the Iraqi forces had "foiled an escape attempt by three terrorists" at Taji Prison.

The three would-be escapees, the statement added, had previously been "sentenced to life imprisonment" and were serving out their sentences at the facility.

It described the scene, explaining that camp guards "opened fire on them when they saw them crossing the outer fence of the prison. They did not comply with orders given to them, resulting in one of them being killed while the other two surrendered."

Security forces gave no further details other than stating that "competent authorities" have opened an investigation into the incident.

In September 2019, Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced the arrest of the alleged "mastermind" of a temporarily successful jailbreak at a different facility in the eastern side of the Iraqi capital. 

Read More: Detainees escape from prison in eastern Baghdad

The announcement came five days after a video of the escape, captured on security cameras, was widely circulated on Iraqi social media.