The Badoosh prison, on the outskirts of Mosul, holds convicted insurgents, Al-Qaeda militants and criminals from across Iraq. Although it was not immediately clear who was behind the blasts near the prison complex, the facility is known for a poor security record.
Police and hospital officials in the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad said the parked, explosives-laden vehicles went off as the commander of the Badoosh prison, Lt. Col. Hussein Al-Jibouri, was heading to work on Monday morning. He was killed in the blast, along with one of his bodyguards.
An Iraqi intelligence official in Mosul confirmed Al-Jibouri died in the attacks that also wounded 16 people, including five bystanders.
In Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman was killed when a roadside bomb struck a patrol in downtown Baghdad while four policemen were wounded when another roadside bomb detonated on Monday morning in eastern part of the capital, police and hospital officials said. Seven people were wounded in the two blasts.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Violence has significantly subsided in Iraq but suspected Sunni insurgents still target Iraq’s army and police in an attempt to weaken Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who is expected to form a new government after last week’s deal broke an eight-month political impasse.
Badoosh prison has been a scene of riots, assaults and a dramatic escape attempt in the past years.
In 2007, a riot erupted in the facility when Iraqi guards were preparing to move inmates into the isolation unit before they had been transferred to a more secure prison.
The disturbance involved 65 prisoners and only came to a halt after American troops surrounded the prison and helped Iraqi security forces restore control.
Also that year, an Al-Qaeda in Iraq front group claimed responsibility for storming the prison complex and freeing about 150 inmates, although most were recaptured afterward.
And in 2006, a nephew of Saddam Hussein serving a life sentence for financing insurgents escaped from the same prison with the help of a police officer. Ayman Sabawi remains at large.
