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Babil security forces capture one inmate after prison escape

BABIL — Security forces in Babil governorate recaptured one of two inmates who escaped from the Hilla Correctional Facility on Friday, according to local police.

In a statement, Babil police said the inmate was apprehended by a specialized unit of the Special Tactical Team.

The escape prompted a broad security operation in the city of Hilla, with checkpoints set up on main roads and increased police patrols. “Two inmates managed to escape outside the prison walls,” a security source told 964media.

The source said one escapee had been serving a seven-year sentence for drug offenses, and the other was sentenced to six months for theft.

CCTV footage showed one inmate scaling down the prison wall, while the other ran along a street just outside the facility.

Justice Minister Khalid Shawani traveled to Hilla in response, launching an investigation. Shawani ordered the prison director, his deputies, and the head of prison security suspended from duty and referred to the judiciary. The director general of corrections was assigned temporary oversight of the prison.

Security forces also surrounded the home of a wanted individual as part of ongoing search operations for the second fugitive.

The escape is the latest in a series of recent incidents involving prison breaks in Iraq. On April 30, an inmate serving a life sentence for murder escaped from Azadi Hospital in Duhok while receiving medical treatment, triggering an immediate security response.