Prisoners suspected to be followers of the late leader of last year’s prison mutiny in Abidjan, Coulibaly Yacouba have escaped from a prison in Katiola, central Cote d’Ivoire.

This is the latest in a string of jail breaks in the West African country which has suffered frequent unrests due to rising tensions within the country’s armed forces.

According to a judiciary source, the inmates, whose leader was killed in a failed jailbreak in 2016, escaped between 05:00 and 06:00 GMT by breaking through the roof of their cells as the prison’s workers were leaving after closing from work.

“The inmates went through the roof of their cells to get to other cells and took advantage of workers leaving to break the main gate and flee,” the source said.

Just last month, five prisoners escaped from a jail in the south central city of Gagnoa after reportedly being aided by four prison guards and one civilian who have since been arrested.

Two days after the Gagnoa incident, another 20 inmates escaped from holding cells at the Abidjan Courthouse after clashing with policemen.