At least five hundred prisoners made good their escape from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison during an attack by suicide bombers and militant-driven car bombs late on Sunday night during a coordinated attack at that prison and the Taji Prison 12 miles distant.

Among the dead in the twin attacks are twenty-one inmates, ten terrorist attackers and at least 26 security force members.

A majority of those who escaped during the onslaught at the Abu Ghraib prison were senior al Qaeda members, many of whom were already convicted and sentenced to death.

In the two-hour battle at Abu Ghraib, militants lobbed morters and fired rockets into the complex as car bombs assaulted the prison walls from several approaches and suicide bombers attacked the gate. As the battle raged outside, inmates inside the complex set fire to furniture and blankets.

Other militants kept their distance from the complex and intercepted troops coming to the aid of those at the prison from Baghdad.

The other of the two attacks, this one in Taji, did not go as well for the militants and Iraqi authorities report that none of the prisoners there were able to escape from the facility.

Iraq authorities reported that fighting continued through the night with re-enforcements and helicopters being deployed to the two facilities. The prisons were brought back under Iraqi control by Monday morning.

Unexploded car bombs and suicide vests were found at both facilities in the aftermath of the attacks Iraq’s security forces say.