ISIS-Affiliated Inmates Kill 3 Guards In Russian Prison Siege, Later Gunned Down By Snipers

Four inmates who had taken hostages and killed four Russian prison guards were shot dead by Russia's security services.

Four inmates who had taken hostages and killed four Russian prison guards were shot dead by Russia's security services. Representational Image.

Source : Pexels

World News: Russia's security services killed four inmates at the country’s maximum security prison on Friday who had taken hostages at a penal colony, and fatally stabbed four prison guards. A penal colony is a distant or overseas settlement established to punish criminals by forced labour and social isolation.

Speaking on the incident, the National Guard said Snipers of the special forces of the Russian National Guard in the Volgograd region neutralised four prisoners with four precise shots, as reported by RIA news agency. The prisoners had taken prison employees hostage, who were later released. According to the federal prison service, all four attackers had been "liquidated".

It stated that four of its staff had died of stab wounds, and others had been treated in a hospital, news agency Reuters reported. A total of eight prison employees and four convicts had been held hostage, the federal prisons service said.

The assailants had posted online videos describing themselves as Islamic State militants, officials said, as reported by Reuters. As per the news agency, in one of the videos posted by the attackers, the victims were seen lying in pools of blood, one of them with his throat slashed. One of the prisoners shouted that they were "mujahideen" of the Islamic State.

On Friday, Russia’s federal penitentiary service said, “Four criminals took eight colony employees and four convicts hostage,” as quoted by AFP.  

As per the AFP report, the assailants stabbed the employees, including some who tried to resist. Russia’s National Guard said 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 wounded four other prisoners.

The standoff went on for several hours on Friday afternoon after the inmates took hostages during a disciplinary commission meeting at the IK-19 prison colony, AFP reported, citing the federal penitentiary service.