Armed Men Free More Than 150 in Kidapawan Jailbreak

More than 150 criminals escaped in one of the biggest jailbreaks in recent years after more than 100 rebels with supposed links to Daesh attacked a jail in the southern Philippines before dawn on Wednesday.

A two-hour firefight broke out when more than 100 armed men, believed to have been led by a local Muslim rebel commander, attacked the jail in Kidapawan city at about 1am, jail authorities stated. Jail warden Superintendent Peter Bungat said a guard was killed and an inmate was injured in the gun battle when dozens of gunmen stormed the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan. Kidapawan, 950km (590 miles) south of Manila, is home to various Muslim rebel assemblies, criminal gangs and communist insurgents.

Kidapawan police chief Superintendent Leo Ajero said two prisoners of the over 150 who escaped had been recaptured, and army troops and police are searching for the others. The jail held more than 1,500 convicts.

Security forces chased the assailants and the fugitives throughout Wednesday morning, with local authorities reporting up to six had been killed in the hunt.

It was the third and biggest jail break that happened in the prison during the past decade. Back in 2007, more than 40 prisoners escaped, among them three bomb-makers. Another group of bomb-makers escaped the same prison four years later.