Iraq recaptures escaped prisoners

An Iraqi police officer watches cars at a checkpoint on July 20, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq [Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

Iraqi police on Sunday recaptured ten prisoners who had recently escaped from Al-Hilal district prison in the country’s province of Muthanna.

“The local security forces were able to arrest ten of the 21 escaped prisoners after an extensive search operation with the help of the local clans,” the police confirmed in a statement according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). It explained that the ten prisoners were all “convicted on drug and terrorism charges.”

The statement added: “Security reinforcements have arrived to continue the search for the remaining fugitives,” noting that they had set a “reward for delivery”.

The interior minister recently ordered the confinement of all barracks of all officers and police at Al-Hilal prison, pending an investigation into the escape.

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