Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Violent Iraqi Prison Break That Freed Dozens

Islamic State militants reportedly orchestrated a prison break in Iraq on Saturday that freed at least 40 inmates and left multiple Iraqi soldiers and guards killed or injured.

The Diyala division of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack with inmates on the al-Khalis prison about 45 miles north of Baghdad, according to the SITE Intel Group, which tracks extremist activity online.

Iraqi officials reportedly said 50 inmates and 12 guards were killed in a battle that erupted after prisoners disarmed guards responding to a riot or fight.

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"The inmates started fighting among themselves, which drew the attention of the police guards who went to break up the fight," an unnamed police source told Sky News. "Then the prisoners attacked them, stripped them of their weapons and started a riot while also managing to capture the armory of the prison."

Some local officials and the pro-IS Amaq News Agency disputed that version of events, however, saying instead that militants used explosives to break into the prison and arm the inmates from the facility's weapons cache.

"ISIS was responsible for the killings and the release of ISIS prisoners," Khalis Mayor Oudi Al-Khadran told Reuters, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State. Col. Ahmed al-Timimi of the Diyala province security operations center reportedly seconded the mayor's account.

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"Fifteen IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were detonated against army and police convoys and vehicles around the prison," IS said in a statement posted online, according to the BBC.

Security forces have reportedly implemented a curfew and are scouring the area surrounding the prison for escapees.

Though Iraqi forces aided by US-led airstrikes and Iranian-backed Shia militias have pushed back against IS and recaptured some territory in recent months, militant attacks have continued to wreak havoc across the country.

Bombings Sunday in and around Baghdad reportedly killed at least 14 people, including three Iraqi soldiers. According to the Associated Press, IS also claimed responsibility for another suicide bombing on Sunday that killed three Iraqi soldiers outside the city of Fallujah.