Iraq Speaker Warns of Prison Raid Security Fallout

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's parliament speaker warned Thursday that the escape this week of hundreds of inmates during al-Qaida-claimed raids on prisons outside Baghdad will make the country's rapidly deteriorating security even worse.

The warning came just hours after militants carried out a bold ambush on truckers north of the capital, killing 14 people.

The Sunday night attack on the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and another lock-up in Taji, both on the outskirts of Baghdad, underscored the extent of the challenges facing Iraqi authorities as they struggle to keep the country safe. More than 550 people have been killed in violent attacks so far this month.

Dozens of people, mainly members of the security forces and inmates, were killed in the attacks. Iraqi officials have yet to release a comprehensive account of the raids, but there is little dispute that several hundred inmates, including members of al-Qaida, escaped.

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