"Among the inmates two were killed and seven wounded. Among the guards, five were hurt, including a police major," he said.

Officials initially had said that some prisoners had escaped, including several Al-Qaeda suspects, but later added that a head count had shown no missing.

Ali Hashem, a council member of Salaheddin province where Tikrit is the capital, confirmed that the trouble began with a confrontation between prisoners and guards that degenerated into a riot after the prisoners started a fire.

He said authorities had imposed a city-wide curfew, fearing that some of the 400 inmates may have fled from the facility.