Al-Qaida-linked group claims it stormed Mosul prison

An al-Qaida-affiliated group claimed in a web posting today that its members stormed a northern Iraqi prison yesterday and freed 150 inmates there.

The claim by the Islamic State in Iraq, an umbrella group of several Sunni insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, appeared on a website commonly used by the insurgents. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed.

A number of “lions of the Brigade of Hassan al-Zaidi stormed the prison and freed 150 inmates, Iraqis and non-Iraqis, and they all left safely”, the statement said, adding that the order for the raid had been issued by the group’s leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

The group also promised details and interviews with the leader of the brigade and some of the freed prisoners would follow.

“May God defeat the envious rejectionists (Shiites), the Crusaders (Christians) and the Zionists, and those who support them,” concluded the statement.

Iraqi police had said that shortly before sunset yesterday, unidentified gunmen stormed the Badoosh prison, 15 miles north-west of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The gunmen freed about 140 inmates, going cell to cell, then fled themselves.

Police rushed to the area, which was illuminated by US helicopters. By late last night, all but 47 of the prisoners had been recaptured, according to the Iraqi police.

The Badoosh prison is known for a poor security record. Last December, a nephew of Saddam Hussein who was serving a life sentence for financing insurgents escaped from the same prison with the help of a police officer. The nephew, Ayman Sabaawi, remains at large.