Interpol has issued a global security alertlinked to suspected al-Qaeda involvement in recent prison breakouts.

Interpol cited prison escapes in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan, and asked its members to examine if they were connected.

The police agency is also asking member countries to "swiftly process any information linked to these events".

In the most recent escape, 248 prisoners were sprung from a jail in north-west Pakistan.

Taliban militants used automatic weapons and bombs to break down the walls of the jail in Dera Ismail Khan on 30 July. At least 13 people were killed, including six police.

The authorities said 30 of those who fled were "hardened militants" jailed for involvement in suicide bombings and other serious attacks.

Hundreds of inmates escaped from two jails in Iraq - Abu Ghraib to the west of Baghdad and Taji to the north - on 22 July.

Bombs and mortar fire were used to break into the prisons. Al-Qaeda members were among those housed in the facilities.Terrorist attack'

There were several hours of fighting after the jails first came under attack and at least 20 members of the security forces were killed.

Five days later, some 1,200 inmates broke out of a jail in the restive Libyan city of Benghazi.