Militants Attack Iraq Prison, Free 90 Inmates

About 90 inmates, including some "hardcore" al-Qaeda members, were freed after militants attacked an Iraqi prison last night, officials say. A car bomb went off outside Tasfirat prison's gates in Tikrit; then gunmen stormed the prison and fought with security guards for hours into the early morning, killing at least 12. At one point they had control of all the prison gates, the BBC reports.

A curfew has been set, and security forces are searching for the freed prisoners. The Iraqi lawmaker who described the escaped al-Qaeda militants as "hardcore" adds that the escapees also took paperwork with them that identified people who snitched on them to authorities. In addition, inmates' files were destroyed, which will make them more difficult to find. (More Tikrit stories.)