Baghdad - Iraqi security sources said Thursday that 13 prisoners, convicted of terrorist offences, had escaped from their jail in the northern city of Tikrit. The prisoners escaped through a small window in the prison's bathroom on Wednesday night, the source said, adding that four of the prisoners were linked to al-Qaeda and faced a death sentence.
Only one prisoner has been recaptures, while police are still searching for the others.
One high-ranking officer in the anti-terrorism department in Salah al-Din police was sacked after the prisoners escaped, the source said.
Security authorities declared a state of curfew across Tikrit and thousands of police and security forces were deployed in the streets to track down the prisoners.
Tikrit, the capital city of Salah al-Din province, lies 170 kilometres north of Baghdad.
