Iraqi authorities form an investigation committee following the escape of detainees in al-Muthanna

Shafaq News / The Security Media Cell announced on Sunday forming an investigation committee against the background of the escape of detainees from the Al-Hilal District Police Station in Al-Muthanna Governorate, southern Iraq.

The cell said in a statement, "The Minister of Interior, Othman Al-Ghanimi, sent the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Police Affairs, Lieutenant General Imad Muhammad Mahmoud to Al-Muthanna Governorate to uncover the details and circumstances of the escape of detainees from Al-Hilal Police Station."

At dawn, an official security source said that 21 prisoners in the Al-Hilal district prison, designated for those convicted of drug trafficking and terrorism charges, managed to escape.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that the security forces were able to arrest some of them, while a search for others is underway amid intense security deployment in the governorate.

For his part, the head of al-Muthanna's local government, Ahmed Manfi, ordered immediate detention of all officers in the Anti-Narcotics Directorate until the investigation is completed.