Abu Ghraib gained international attention in 2003 following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, when the torture and abuse of detainees committed by guards in part of the complex operated by Coalition forces was exposed.

[1][2] In 2006, the United States transferred complete control of Abu Ghraib to the federal government of Iraq, and was reopened in 2009 as Baghdad Central Prison (Arabic: سجن بغداد المركزي Sijn Baġdād al-Markizī).

Suspected criminals, insurgents or those arrested and awaiting trial were held at other facilities, commonly known as "camps" in U.S. military parlance.

[citation needed] Abu Ghraib served as both a FOB (Forward Operating Base) and a detention facility.

[citation needed] In the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal, reserve soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company were charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse, beginning with an Army Criminal Investigation Division investigation on January 14, 2004.

In April 2004, U.S. television news-magazine 60 Minutes reported on a story from the magazine The New Yorker, which recounted torture and humiliation of Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers and contracted civilians.

Commentators thought the attack was either an attempt to incite a riot or retribution for detainees' cooperating with the United States.

[citation needed] The U.S. military released nearly 1,000 detainees at the prison during the week ending August 27, 2005, at the request of the Iraqi government.

Officials believe that the car bomb was intended to breach the prison wall, enabling an assault and/or mass escape for detainees.

Insurgents also attacked military forces nearby on highways en route to the prison for reinforcement and used ambushes along the roads.

"[17][18] A simultaneous attack occurred at another prison, in Taji, around 12 miles north of Baghdad, where 16 members of the Iraqi security forces and six militants were killed.

[17] On April 15, 2014, the Iraqi Justice Ministry announced that it had closed the prison amid fear that it could be taken over by ISIL, which controlled much of Anbar Province at the time.