Al-Qaeda prison raids raise fears of Iraq civil war
Claims that attackers were helped by guards inside Abu Ghraib prison, as more details emerge of audacious assault
Yousef Ali had just sat down at his home near Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison a little after 9pm on Sunday to break his Ramadan fast, when he was startled by the sound of explosions from the direction of the prison.
"We began to hear mortars and gunfire, followed by two car bombs," he said. "We could tell there was a big fight inside the prison. We could see aircraft hovering above the prison and nearby areas."
A team of gunmen and suicide bombers had launched a co-ordinated assault on Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons, one of the most audacious attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent memory.
Al-Qaeda said more than 500 prisoners were freed and 120 Iraqi guards and Swat forces killed. Officials estimated a lower number of escapees, and said at least 25 security officers were killed along with at least 21 prisoners and 10 militants.
Ali said he and others in the area helped to hide prisoners who had escaped. "They were hiding among the bushes but they were scared they might fall into the hands of the security forces again or fall into the hands of some other people who would hand them over to the government," he said.