RAMADI (Iraq), Dec 26: A local Al Qaeda chief known as “Imad the killer” escaped in a pre-dawn breakout from an Iraqi police station on Friday, triggering a wild shootout that left 13 militants and Iraqi policemen dead.

Imad Ahmed Farhan, who police say has admitted to murdering at least 100 people, is on the run with two other “emirs” or local leaders of Al Qaeda who broke out of their cells in a police station in the western city of Ramadi.

“During an exchange of fire between prisoners trying to escape and police officers in the station, six policemen and seven prisoners were killed,” provincial police chief Tareq al-Dulaimi said.

The three prisoners managed to flee but one was recaptured, Dulaimi said, adding that another four policemen were wounded in the shootout that occurred at 2am (2300 GMT) at Forsan police station.

Ramadi police have imposed a curfew in the city following the incident, an interior ministry source said.

The source said a prisoner wanting to go to toilet was escorted from his cell by a policeman, kicking off what appeared to be a well-planned operation.

“The policeman was overpowered by the inmate who seized his weapon and shot him,” the source said.

“He then opened up the other cells and he and his fellow prisoners grabbed weapons from the police station’s armoury, opening fire on the policemen.” The prisoners battled police for two hours before officers managed to regain control of the station, a local police official said.

Farhan is locally known as “Imad Omaya” which in Arabic means “Imad the Killer.” On Friday the streets of Ramadi, a city with a population of 540,000, were deserted and shops were shut as a heavy police presence fanned out in an urgent hunt for the escapees.

Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was a key Al Qaeda stronghold in the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime by US-led forces in 2003.

But it became far quieter after locals began supporting US efforts against Al Qaeda and other militants in late 2006.

The United States handed security control of Anbar to the Iraqi government in September, but US Marines are still stationed in the province.

—Agencies