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Al-Qaeda Militants Raid Iraq's Abu Ghraib, Taji Prisons

Tenuous official accounts of what really transpired during the Abu Ghraib and Taji prison breaks leave many questions about the incident unanswered.
Mourners pray at the coffin of a victim killed during an attack on a prison in Taji, during a funeral at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad July 22, 2013. Sixteen soldiers and six militants were killed during an attack on the prison on Sunday in Taji, around 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, but guards managed to prevent any inmates escaping. The attack was conducted simultaneously and followed a similar pattern as the attack on Abu Ghraib jail, where hundreds of convicts, in
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The attacks against the Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons on July 22 caused a shock at all levels. This requires recalculations not only to evaluate al-Qaeda’s capabilities, but also the Iraqi security efforts needed to combat this potential.

On the same day, websites close to al-Qaeda attributed the Abu Ghraib and Taji prison raids to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

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