Few details on the fugitives were provided by Iraqi security chiefs. But five were Iraqis who were sentenced to death for terrorism-related crimes and links to al-Qaida in Iraq, said a Tikrit police officer, said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the operation with media.

The other 11 escaped convicts were jailed on charges that include kidnapping and murder, and some were awaiting sentencing, the officer said. At least one — a 19-year-old inmate — was recaptured early Thursday and the other remained at large.
A full-scale curfew was imposed on the city of 250,000 after the escape and eased before sundown on Thursday. Soldiers, however, expanded checkpoints and displayed wanted posters with photos of the fugitives. Military units also sharpened their watch on Iraq's borders — particularly the western frontier with Syria — as the dragnet widened over sparsely populated regions outside Tikrit.

At the request of local authorities, the U.S. military in the area provided search dogs and aerial surveillance, spokesman Maj. Derrick Cheng said.