BAGHDAD (REUTERS) - Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants staged the prison break in Iraq in which 50 inmates and a dozen policemen were killed, said two Iraqi officials on Saturday.

"ISIS was responsible for the killings and the release of ISIS prisoners," said Oudi Al-Khadran, mayor of the town where the prison, which holds hundreds of people convicted of acts of terrorism, is located.

That account was confirmed by Colonel Ahmed al-Timimi of the Diyala province security operations centre.