An onslaught on a convoy transferring inmates north of Baghdad left at least 60 dead on 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 on 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 late on Wednesday.
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 on 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 late on Wednesday.