MOSCOW: Russian authorities said on Sunday that they had brought an end to a siege at a prison in the southern Rostov region, killing the Islamic State (IS) hostage-takers and freeing their two prison guard captives unharmed.
The incident began when the prison service reported that two guards at Detention Centre 1 in the Rostov region had been taken hostage by IS detainees. Negotiations were initially attempted for the release of the captives. However, shortly afterward, the prison service issued a statement confirming the conclusion of the siege: “During a special operation…the criminals were liquidated and the employees who were taken hostage were released and were not injured.”
No further details were released immediately following the operation. However, a police source informed the state news agency TASS that the IS members involved were detainees scheduled to appear in court on terrorism charges. These detainees had reportedly armed themselves with a pocket-knife, a baton, and an axe, and were holed up in the prison courtyard. According to the Interfax news agency, there were six hostage-takers who demanded a car and safe passage out of the prison in exchange for the hostages’ release.
This siege comes nearly three months after a deadly attack claimed by the group, where gunmen killed at least 144 people and injured hundreds more during a concert at Crocus City Hall near Moscow on March 22. The attack was the deadliest on Russian soil in two decades. Since then, more than 20 persons have been arrested, including four suspected gunmen from Tajikistan, a country bordering Afghanistan to the north.
Russia has been a repeated target of attacks claimed by IS militants, although the group’s influence in the country remains limited. Media reports speculated that the attackers at the Rostov detention centre might be among those arrested in 2022 for allegedly planning an attack on the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia.
