Inmates killed at least three Russian prison guards on Friday during a prison siege, officials reported. The assailants were said to have apparent connections to the Islamic State group.
Russian special forces stormed the facility in the southern Volgograd region and shot dead all four attackers after an hours-long stand-off.
This incident marks the second occurrence of IS-affiliated prisoners taking staff hostage since June and comes amid heightened ethnic tensions following the terror attack on a Moscow concert hall in March.
“Four criminals took eight colony employees and four convicts hostage,” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said on Friday.
The assailants stabbed the employees, including some who attempted to resist. At least three guards were killed, and there were conflicting reports regarding the fate of a fourth prison guard.
Russia’s National Guard stated that its snipers shot dead the hostage-takers in a “special operation” to end the siege.
In addition to those killed, the attack left at least four prison guards hospitalised and injured four other prisoners.
The stand-off lasted several hours on Friday afternoon after the inmates took hostages during a disciplinary commission meeting at the IK-19 prison colony, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service.
Videos published on Russian social media during the siege appeared to show prison guards covered in blood and lying motionless on the floor. The clips also showed the hostage-takers holding flags associated with the Islamic State group. Brandishing a knife, one assailant claimed the attack was “revenge” for Russia’s oppression of Muslims following the Moscow concert attack in March.
AFP could not verify these images.
While the incident was unfolding, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the “situation” would be discussed at a regular meeting of the country’s Security Council.
‘Ethnic Discord’ –
Volgograd regional governor Andrey Bocharov referenced reports on social media suggesting that the attackers were not Russian citizens, but did not confirm their identities.
“Everyone on our territory is obliged to respect and comply with the laws of Russia. We will not allow anyone to incite ethnic discord,” he said in a statement released by the regional administration.
The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, an Islamic association, “categorically rejected” the “atrocity” and claimed it was “inspired from outside Russia.”
The IK-19 prison colony is located in the town of Surovikino, around 850 kilometres (530 miles) south of Moscow.
This is the second incident of prisoners with apparent IS connections taking hostages, following a similar siege at a jail in the southern Rostov region in June.
Russian special forces killed most of the hostage-takers during that incident, detained one, and freed the guards.
Tensions over migration and ethnicity are running high in Russia following the attack on a Moscow concert hall in March that killed 145 people—the deadliest terror attack in Russia for two decades.
A Central Asian branch of IS claimed responsibility for the attack, and the four suspected gunmen, now in pre-trial detention, are citizens of Tajikistan.
Millions of people from Central Asia, which was part of the Soviet Union, live in Russia, many working low-skilled jobs to send money back to their families.
IS has repeatedly pledged to target Russia in retaliation for its support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who has waged a military campaign against the group in the Middle East.
AFP
