MOSCOW: Russian special forces freed two prison guards and shot dead six inmates linked to the Islamic State militant group who had taken them hostage at a detention centre in the southern city of Rostov on Sunday.

State media said that some of the men had been convicted of terrorism offences and were accused of affiliation with the IS, which had claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a concert hall in March.

The six hostage takers, one of whom wore a headband with the flag used by the IS that bears an Arabic inscription, knocked out window bars and climbed down several floors by rope before taking the guards hostage with a knife.

Two prison guards freed

In a video published by the 112 Telegram channel, one was shown brandishing a knife beside one of the bound guards in Rostov-on-Don. They demanded free passage out of the prison, but special forces decided to storm the prison. Intense automatic gunfire could be heard in footage published on Russian Telegram channels. Video published by the 112 Telegram channel showed the six dead men in pools of blood.

“The criminals were eliminated,” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said. “The employees who were being held hostage were released. They are uninjured,” the prison service said.

Islamic State-Khorasan, named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the March attack on the Crocus City Hall outside Moscow in which 145 people died.

According to Russian media, the hostage takers were from Ingushetia.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2024