Baghdad - Iraq's branch of al-Qaeda said it masterminded a jailbreak in the northern city of Tikrit in September and smuggled weapons to inmates, according to a statement posted on militant websites.
Dozens of prisoners, many of them convicted members of al-Qaeda on death row, fought their way out of the jail, killing 16 members of the security forces in ensuing clashes.
Al-Qaeda issued a statement saying it planned the mass escape with prisoners, sent them arms and detonated a car bomb outside the prison gate to give them a chance to flee, according to SITE, a group which monitors militant Islamist websites.
Iraq's interior ministry has accused prison officials of complicity in the jailbreak.
The country is home to a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, including a local branch of al-Qaeda called the Islamic State of Iraq, which continue to launch attacks to undermine the Shi'a-led government.
Security at prisons was beefed up following the jailbreak and some inmates were transferred to fortified jails.
Last September, 35 prisoners facing terrorism charges escaped via a sewage pipe from a temporary jail in the northern city of Mosul, an al-Qaeda stronghold. - Reuters