The two Russian prison officers who were taken hostage by members of the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) in a detention center in the Rostov-on-Don region have been released, announced the federal penitentiary service of RussiaSunday June 16.
“During a special operation (…) the criminals were liquidated and the employees who were taken hostage were released and were not harmed”specified the prison services in a press release.
According to a source within the police interviewed by the state agency TASSmembers of ISIS to appear in court on charges of “terrorism” were among the hostage-takers. They were holed up in the courtyard of the detention center, armed with a pocketknife, a baton and an axe. There were six attackers according to the Interfax agency. According to Russian media, the attackers at the Rostov detention center could be men arrested in 2022 and accused of wanting to carry out an attack against the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia, a Russian republic in the Caucasus with a Muslim majority.
Footage broadcast on Russia’s main Telegram channels showed detainees armed with knives listing a series of demands – weapons and the possibility of being released. Later, bursts of automatic weapons rang out around the detention center surrounded by the police, before ambulances arrive.
Series of jihadist attacks in Russia
Russia has been targeted on multiple occasions by attacks and attacks claimed by the jihadist organization. On March 22, gunmen opened fire in a concert hall near Moscow, killing at least 144 people and injuring hundreds. It was the deadliest attack on Russian soil since 2004.
More than twenty people have since been arrested, including the four alleged attackers, all from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia neighboring Afghanistan. The attack was quickly claimed by the Islamic State organization.