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Iraq prison convoy ambushed

Gunmen attacked a prisoner convoy north of Baghdad on Thursday, setting off a gunbattle with troops in which scores of prisoners and eight soldiers were killed, brutally underscoring Iraq’s instability as lawmakers convened to elect a new president.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Baghdad earlier on Thursday, urging lawmakers to “find a common ground” so they can address the crisis sparked by the rapid advance of the Islamic State group and allied militants across much of northern and western Iraq last month.

The dawn attack began with militants firing mortar rounds on Iraqi army bases in the town of Taji, where suspects were being held on terrorism charges, prompting authorities to evacuate the facilities, fearing a jailbreak, officials said.

As the convoy travelled through a remote area nearby, roadside bombs went off and militants opened fire. The ensuing battle left 52 prisoners and eight soldiers dead, with another eight soldiers and seven prisoners wounded, they said. It was not immediately clear if the prisoners were killed by soldiers or militants, or if the Islamic State group was involved.

The town of Taji is located some 20 kilometres north of the capital.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

Islamic State militants have staged several jailbreaks, including a complex, military-style assault on two Baghdad-area prisons in July 2013 that freed more than 500 inmates.

Apparently fearing a repeat of the incident, Shia militiamen killed nearly four dozen Sunni detainees last month in the town of Baqouba northwest of Baghdad when the facility where they were being held came under attack, according to a report by Amnesty International.

The report documented a “pattern of extrajudicial executions” of mainly Sunni detainees by forces loyal to the Shia-led government, both in Baqouba and in the north, basing its conclusions on interviews with survivors and relatives of those killed.

The rapid advance of the Islamic State group has plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since US troops withdrew in 2011.

More than a million Iraqis have been displaced this year, many of them fleeing violence brought on by this latest wave of violence, according to the UN.