Sep 24, 2009, 15:04 GMT
Baghdad - Five people, including three policemen, were killed in separate attacks Thursday in the northern city of Mosul, according to Iraqi police.
Two Iraqi policemen were killed in a gunmen attack in Ghazi street in central Mosul, police sources told the German Press Agency dpa.
In western Mosul, gunmen broke into the house of another policeman in al-Obour neighborhood and killed him, reports said.
Police added that two civilians were killed during clashes between police and gunmen in al-Sukkar district, in Mosul, which lies some 400 kilometres north of Baghdad.
Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi security sources said that 15 prisoners convicted of terrorist offences had escaped from their jail in the northern city of Tikrit.
The prisoners escaped through a small window in the prison's bathroom on Wednesday night, a security source who did not wish to give their name told dpa, adding that four of the prisoners were 'linked to al-Qaeda' and faced a death sentence.
Only one prisoner, Mowafaq al-Majmaei, has been recaptured, while police are still searching for the remaining 14 escapees.
One high-ranking officer in the anti-terrorism department in Salah al-Din police department has been sacked as a result of the escape.
A police source told dpa that the officer, Mohammad al-Juburi, had previously asked for more staff to ensure security in the prison, but his request was denied.
Security authorities declared a state of curfew across Tikrit and thousands of police and security forces were deployed in the streets to track down the prisoners.
Tikrit, the capital city of Salah al-Din province, lies 170 kilometres north of Baghdad.
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