Yet again, Iraqi security recently forces locked down areas around the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad to hunt for escaped inmates and militants after daring insurgent assaults set hundreds of detainees free.

The well planned operation ended up however in the death of at least 25 members of the Iraqi security forces with the attackers well equipped with ammunition. Insurgents fired dozens of mortar shells and detonated suicide and car bombs, drawing Iraqi forces into firefights that lasted more than an hour.

The prisons in Abu Ghraib and Taji house thousands of prisoners, including convicted Al Qaida militants. Exactly one year ago, Al Qaida’s Iraq arm launched a campaign called “Breaking the Walls” that made freeing its imprisoned members a top priority.