Kinshasa, Congo ? A group of prisoners convicted for their involvement in the assassination of a former Congolese president escaped from jail in the capital, prison officials said Tuesday.

Prison director Dido Kitunga said 11 inmates escaped, all former members of President Laurent Kabila’s military guard who were convicted of playing a role in his 2001 assassination. The inmates were discovered missing Tuesday morning, Kitunga said.

A senior army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters, said 14 prisoners who were serving life sentences had escaped from Kinshasa’s central prison and two were caught.

He said the 12 others crossed the Congo River and fled to Brazzaville, capital of neighboring Republic of Congo.

The army official said the prisoners escaped by bribing jail officials and then climbing over the jail walls. He said the 14 included two former army officials and 12 former agents of Congo’s intelligence service.