Iraq attacks kill more than 40 security personnel

A suicide bomber killed at least 22 soldiers and three bystanders in northern Iraq on Monday, part of a recent surge in violence that has ravaged the country and raised questions about the country's long-term security efforts. 

The bomber targeted units from the Iraqi army by driving a vehicle packed with explosives up to the military convoy in the eastern Kokchali district of Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, before detonating the bomb.

Nearly 600 people have been killed in militant attacks across Iraq this month, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count. At least 250 people have been killed since the beginning of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, according to an Associated Press account.

It is unclear who was behind the blasts, but suicide bombings are a hallmark of al Qaeda, which has been regrouping in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city and capital of the Sunni-dominated Nineveh province.

Monday's deadly incident comes after prison attacks on Sunday at two prisons on the outskirts of Baghdad left 26 soldiers and policemen dead, Reuters reports.

The coordinated attacks on the prisons in Taji and Abu Ghraib were a further indication of Iraq's deteriorating security conditions, analysts say. Both prisons held convicted al Qaeda militants.

The U.S. military previously operated the Taji and Abu Ghraib prisons but handed control of both facilities back to Iraqi authorities before the last American troops departed in December 2011.

Abuse of prisoners at the hands of American guards inside Abu Ghraib following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion sparked outrage around the world and helped fuel anti-American sentiment in Iraq.

There were conflicting reports on whether inmates had escaped following the assaults, which started late Sunday. Local media and militant Internet forums said some prisoners managed to flee, but authorities did not confirm any break-outs.

Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan Ibrahim denied any prisoners had escaped, while Justice Ministry spokesman Wissam al-Firaiji told The Associated Press 21 prisoners were killed during the fighting and 25 were wounded. He was unable to confirm reports of prisoners escaping, saying authorities were still counting the inmates.

Those comments contradicted local media and jihadist Internet forums, which reported some prisoners had managed to flee. It also contradicted comments made by Hakem al-Zamili, a member of parliament's security and defense committee.

"About 500 prisoners escaped from Abu Ghraib prison,” al-Zamili told Agence France Presse.

Zamili said that no inmates escaped from the prison in Taji, the second that was attacked. But MP Shwan Taha, also a security and defense committee member, said in an online statement that between 500 and 1,000 inmates escaped from the two prisons, AFP reports.

Al Jazeera and wire services