TerrorismInterpol issues global alert following nine al Qaeda-linked prison breakouts

Interpol on Saturday (3 August) has issued a global security alert following a spate of al Qaeda-linked prison breakouts in several countries in which more than 2,500 terrorists escaped.

The Guardian offers details about the last three prison breakouts:

• About 500 convicts, among them senior al Qaeda operatives, escaped from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq on 22 July
• More than 1,100 inmates broke out of a prison on the outskirts of Benghazi on 27 July
• More than 300 al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners escaped the prison in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, some 320 km west of Lahore,Pakistan on 31 July in a Taliban-led operation

Interpol, in a statement issued from the organization’s headquarters in Lyon, France, urged law enforcement agencies around the world to show “increased vigilance,” following prison breakouts over the past month in nine countries, including Iraq, Libya, and Pakistan.

“With suspected al Qaeda involvement in several of the breakouts which led to the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals, the Interpol alert requests the organization’s 190 member countries’ assistance in order to determine whether any of these recent events are co-ordinated or linked,” Interpol said.

“Interpol is asking its member countries to closely follow and swiftly process any information linked to these events and the escaped prisoners. They are also requested to alert the relevant member country and Interpol general secretariat headquarters if any escaped terrorist is located or intelligence developed which could help prevent another terrorist attack.”

August is the anniversary of violent terrorist incidents in Mumbai, India and Gluboky, Russia as well as in Jakarta, Indonesia. This week also marks the fifteenth anniversary of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in which more than 200 mostly African citizens were killed and 4,000 others injured.