Washington, Feb 6, SPA -- Interpol has issued "an urgent global security alert" after 23 "dangerous individuals" -- including a man identified as the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 -- escaped from a Yemeni prison. The international crime-fighting organization said in a statement that they escaped via a 140-meter (150-yard) -long tunnel "dug by the prisoners and co-conspirators outside." Among the escapees was Jamal Ahmed Badawi, considered the mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000. Badawi was sentenced to death in September 2004 for plotting the attack. Two suicide bombers blew up an explosives-laden boat next to the destroyer while the destroyer was in the Aden, Yemen, harbor for a routine fuel stop. The attack killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others. A U.S. government official with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN that Yemeni security forces have launched a nationwide manhunt for the escaped prisoners. Elite counter-terrorism units are among the troops taking part in the search, the official said.--SPA 12 00 Local Time 09 00 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/323934