Security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia, killing six hostage-takers linked to the Islamic State terrorist group.
Security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia on Sunday, killing six inmates who had taken two staff members hostage, Russian media reported Sunday, citing Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service.
The hostages in the pre-trial detention center in Rostov-on-Don were unhurt, the Service said.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said the hostage-takers had been “liquidated”, while other local media reported thatat least some of the prisoners had been killed.
According to authorities, the prisoners were held in different cells, but they managed to establish communication with each other. The hostage-taking would have been in preparation for several months.
Earlier, the state news agency Tass, citing unnamed sources within law enforcement agencies, said that six hostage takers were in the central courtyard of detention center No. 1 of the region Rostov, armed with a pocketknife, a rubber baton and a fire axe. Among the prisoners are men accused of having links to the Islamic State group (Daesh).
ISIS has carried out a number of attacks on Russian soil in recent years, including in March when gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall in a Moscow suburb, killing 145 people.
Additional sources • euronews in Russian, adaptation – Serge Duchêne
