More than 500 prisoners escaped when suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives into two Baghdad jails, including the notorious Abu Ghraib, in a well planned military-style assault that left at least 10 police officers and four militants dead. The audacious breakout will underline concerns that experienced Al Qaeda commanders and fighters held in Iraq will now join terrorist groups fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad raising further questions about the decision by Britain and the U.S. to help opposition groups. Maximum security: Abu Ghraib prison, pictured in 2009 following a renovation, was home to some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. (File photo) Officials also warned that it could lead to an increase in the already mounting number of sectarian attacks across Iraq. A surge of violence across Iraq has killed more than 3,000 people since the start of April, and the assaults on the prisons laid bare the degree to which security has eroded in the country in recent months. The increase in bloodshed is intensifying fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Significantly, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was formed earlier this year through a merger between Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out the attacks on Abu Ghraib and Taji jails after months of preparation. Monday’s attack came exactly a year after the leader of al Qaeda’s Iraqi branch, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, launched a campaign dubbed 'Breaking the Walls' that made freeing its imprisoned members its top priority. The deadly raid on the high-security jails happened as Sunni Muslim militants are gaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi’ite-led government that came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. Attacked: As many as 500 inmates - including senior al Qaeda members - are thought to have escaped after terrorists launched a military assault on Abu Ghraib prison. (File photo) Suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives to the gates of the prison on the outskirts of Baghdad and blasted their way into the compound, while gunmen attacked guards with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Other militants took up positions near the main road, fighting off security reinforcements sent from Baghdad as several militants wearing suicide vests entered the prison on foot to help free the inmates. ‘This big security failure shows that the top security commanders have failed to sort out any solutions for the on-going security deterioration,’ said Shawan Mohammed Taha, one of the lawmakers who confirmed the escapes. ‘The terrorists, not the security forces, are now taking the initiative.’ Sunni insurgents, including the Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, have been regaining strength in recent months and striking on an almost daily basis against Shi’ite Muslims and security forces amongst other targets. Caged: Iraqi detainees wait to be released at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad in Iraq - which was the scene of a mass jailbreak by al Qaeda terrorists this morning. (File photo) The violence has raised fears of a return to full-blown conflict in a country where Kurds, Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power. Recent attacks have targeted mosques, amateur football matches, shopping areas and cafes where people gather to socialise after breaking their daily fast for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Relations between Islam’s two main denominations have been put under further strain from the civil war in Syria, which has drawn in Shi’ite and Sunni fighters from Iraq and beyond to fight against each other. In the city of Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives behind a military convoy in the eastern Kokchali district, killing at least 22 soldiers and three passers-by, police said. Following the attack, leaflets were found near mosques in Mosul signed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Four other policemen, were killed in a separate attack in western Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city and capital of the Sunni-dominated Nineveh province. Nearly 600 people have been killed in militant attacks across Iraq so far this month, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count. Infamous: An Iraqi prisoner reads the Quran before his release at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, Iraq, which has become infamous after details of the torture of detainees at the hands of U.S. guards emerged. (File photo) Torture: Abu Ghraib was made notorious a decade ago by photographs showing abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers . The U.S. military previously operated the lock-ups in Taji and Abu Ghraib but handed control of both facilities back to Iraqi authorities before the last American troops departed in December 2011. Abuse of prisoners at the hands of American guards inside Abu Ghraib sparked outrage around the world and helped fuel anti-American sentiment in Iraq. Jailbreaks are relatively common in Iraq. A dozen prisoners, including al-Qaida-linked death row inmates, escaped from the Taji prison in January after seizing guards’ weapons. And in September, scores more inmates got away following clashes at a prison in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit that left 12 people dead.
Fears raised that freed inmates may join terror groups in Syria .
Suicide bombers blasted through high-security gates; gunmen attacked guards with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades .
Ten policemen and four terrorists killed in battle on outskirts of Baghdad .
500 inmates thought to have escaped before authorities regained control .
Guards manage to repel simultaneous attack on nearby prison .
More than 500 prisoners escaped when suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives into two Baghdad jails, including the notorious Abu Ghraib, in a well planned military-style assault that left at least 10 police officers and four militants dead. The audacious breakout will underline concerns that experienced Al Qaeda commanders and fighters held in Iraq will now join terrorist groups fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad raising further questions about the decision by Britain and the U.S. to help opposition groups. Maximum security: Abu Ghraib prison, pictured in 2009 following a renovation, was home to some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. (File photo) Officials also warned that it could lead to an increase in the already mounting number of sectarian attacks across Iraq. A surge of violence across Iraq has killed more than 3,000 people since the start of April, and the assaults on the prisons laid bare the degree to which security has eroded in the country in recent months. The increase in bloodshed is intensifying fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Significantly, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was formed earlier this year through a merger between Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out the attacks on Abu Ghraib and Taji jails after months of preparation. Monday’s attack came exactly a year after the leader of al Qaeda’s Iraqi branch, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, launched a campaign dubbed 'Breaking the Walls' that made freeing its imprisoned members its top priority. The deadly raid on the high-security jails happened as Sunni Muslim militants are gaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi’ite-led government that came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. Attacked: As many as 500 inmates - including senior al Qaeda members - are thought to have escaped after terrorists launched a military assault on Abu Ghraib prison. (File photo) Suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives to the gates of the prison on the outskirts of Baghdad and blasted their way into the compound, while gunmen attacked guards with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Other militants took up positions near the main road, fighting off security reinforcements sent from Baghdad as several militants wearing suicide vests entered the prison on foot to help free the inmates. ‘This big security failure shows that the top security commanders have failed to sort out any solutions for the on-going security deterioration,’ said Shawan Mohammed Taha, one of the lawmakers who confirmed the escapes. ‘The terrorists, not the security forces, are now taking the initiative.’ Sunni insurgents, including the Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, have been regaining strength in recent months and striking on an almost daily basis against Shi’ite Muslims and security forces amongst other targets. Caged: Iraqi detainees wait to be released at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad in Iraq - which was the scene of a mass jailbreak by al Qaeda terrorists this morning. (File photo) The violence has raised fears of a return to full-blown conflict in a country where Kurds, Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power. Recent attacks have targeted mosques, amateur football matches, shopping areas and cafes where people gather to socialise after breaking their daily fast for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Relations between Islam’s two main denominations have been put under further strain from the civil war in Syria, which has drawn in Shi’ite and Sunni fighters from Iraq and beyond to fight against each other. In the city of Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives behind a military convoy in the eastern Kokchali district, killing at least 22 soldiers and three passers-by, police said. Following the attack, leaflets were found near mosques in Mosul signed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Four other policemen, were killed in a separate attack in western Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city and capital of the Sunni-dominated Nineveh province. Nearly 600 people have been killed in militant attacks across Iraq so far this month, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count. Infamous: An Iraqi prisoner reads the Quran before his release at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, Iraq, which has become infamous after details of the torture of detainees at the hands of U.S. guards emerged. (File photo) Torture: Abu Ghraib was made notorious a decade ago by photographs showing abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers . The U.S. military previously operated the lock-ups in Taji and Abu Ghraib but handed control of both facilities back to Iraqi authorities before the last American troops departed in December 2011. Abuse of prisoners at the hands of American guards inside Abu Ghraib sparked outrage around the world and helped fuel anti-American sentiment in Iraq. Jailbreaks are relatively common in Iraq. A dozen prisoners, including al-Qaida-linked death row inmates, escaped from the Taji prison in January after seizing guards’ weapons. And in September, scores more inmates got away following clashes at a prison in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit that left 12 people dead.
that left at least 10 police officers and four join terrorist groups fighting to overthrow Attacked: As many as 500 inmates - including senior al Qaeda members - are thought to have escaped after terrorists launched a military Suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives to the gates of the prison on the outskirts of while gunmen attacked guards with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Other militants took killed in a separate attack in western Mosul, authorities before the last American troops