Nearly five dozen inmates were killed when militants attacked a convoy of Iraqi security forces who were transferring them from one prison to another, police said Thursday.

At least 58 inmates died in the suicide attack and eight security force members were injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but police said they believed it was carried out by fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The Islamist group has gained control of large swaths of the two Mideast nations.

CNN