Security forces have detained 13 of the escapees, according to the report, which cited a security source.
The incident occurred in
Gabes, in the southeastern part of the North African country. It is the
latest mass prison break in the turbulent Muslim world.
Recent prison breaks have
been cited by analysts as one of several reasons the United States
heightened its security and closed various embassies last month.
Prison breaks occurred
last July in Pakistan, Iraq and Libya, and have been a known strategy of
al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Details are not known about who
escaped from the Tunisian prison, but there are longstanding fears that
militants are focusing on springing their fighters and leaders who are
incarcerated.
CNN National Security
Analyst Peter Bergen said that al Qaeda "actually announced a year ago
that they were going to do this campaign of releasing prisoners from
prison and they conducted something like seven prison assaults, a couple
of which have been quite successful."
Interpol last month
issued a global security alert, asking member nations to help determine
whether the recent escapes are linked. It cited "suspected al Qaeda
involvement in several of the breakouts which led to the escape of
hundreds of terrorists and other criminals."
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