Approximately 120 prisoners have escaped from a Libyan jail in Tripoli. The AFP reported that the National Guard chief, Khaled al-Sharif said that the prisoners have escaped and now security services were trying to catch them.
"About 120 common criminals escaped from al-Jadaida prison today. Security services are on high alert to catch them," Sharif said according to Al Jazeera.
"We are trying to hunt them down and some have already been arrested," he added.
The BBC reported that al Sharif said that out of the 120 inmates that have escaped at least half have been captured. He also told the BBC that some of the prisoners were illegal African immigrants that were put in jail for breaking immigration laws, while others were Libyans that had "criminal convictions."
Currently, it is still unclear how the incident occurred and how the over one hundred inmates escaped.
Al Jazeera reports that earlier in the year, Libyan authorities took control of some of the prisons in Libya which included al-Jadaida where the prisoners escaped. The prisons were formerly under the rule of rebels under Gaddafi's reign.
The escape comes at a week before the October 20 first anniversary of former leader, Muammar Gaddafi's capture and death.
Al-Jadaida is a prison "reserved for common criminals," Al Jazeera reports.
Al-Jadaida is one of the largest jails in Tripoli and The Tripoli Post reports that human rights groups have accused the jail of human rights abuses in the past.
"Al-Jadaida is one of several Libyan jails currently under the control of an array of different military councils and brigades," reports the Tripoli Post.
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