BAGHDAD, July 24, (AP): An onslaught on a convoy transferring inmates north of Baghdad left at least 60 dead Thursday, even as politicians and diplomats stepped up efforts to end Iraq's worst crisis in years.
Most of those killed in Taji, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Baghdad, were prisoners whose escort was attacked and were described by police as being mostly Sunni militants charged with terrorism.
Explosions from the attack were heard in some neighbourhoods of the capital, where UN chief Ban Ki-moon landed Thursday on an unscheduled stop in his Middle East tour.
"At least 60 people, prisoners and policemen, were killed in a suicide attack followed by several IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and shooting," an interior ministry official told AFP.
One security source said the inmates were being transferred as a precautionary measure after Taji prison was hit by mortar fire on Wednesday.
However the exact circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear, nor how many attackers were dead and how the prisoners they were apparently trying to free were killed.
The bus was believed to be transporting around 60 prisoners and medics said that some 50 of those killed in the pre-dawn attack were inmates.
Most of them were burnt beyond recognition, the medics said.
Government forces were recently accused by rights watchdogs of having executed more than 250 prisoners since June 9.
60 killed in attack on Iraq prison convoy
FE Team | Published: July 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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