By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An al-Qaida affiliated group claimed in a Web posting on Wednesday that its members stormed a northern Iraqi prison the previous day and freed 150 inmates there.
The claim by the Islamic State in Iraq - an umbrella group of several Sunni insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq - appeared on a Web site commonly used by the insurgents. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed.
A number of "lions of the Brigade of Hassan al-Zaidi stormed the prison and freed 150 inmates, Iraqis and non-Iraqis, and they all left safely," the statement said, adding that the order for the raid had been issued by the group's leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
The group also promised details and interviews with the leader of the brigade and some of the freed prisoners would follow.