Several assailants, reportedly linked to ISIL, have been killed in the operation to rescue two guards at a Rostov-on-Don detention centre. Russian special forces have freed two prison guards and killed several men who had taken them hostage at a pre-trial detention centre in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
The two guards were taken hostage by six detainees earlier on Sunday, the prison service said, before an operation was launched to free them, Russian media reported.
Initially, the prison service said it had entered into negotiations for the guards’ release. But a short time later it issued a statement saying the siege had ended.
“The criminals were eliminated,” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement, which added that a “special operation” had taken place to free the hostages, who were not injured.
The hostage-takers reportedly had links to the ISIL (ISIS) group, Russian media reported quoting police sources.
RT reported that three of the hostage-takers had already been sentenced on “terrorism” charges, including disseminating extremist information and plotting to blow up a Russian courthouse.
Journalists on the scene reported the sounds of gunfire, while multiple ambulances were seen arriving at the prison in footage on social media.
Images posted on social media appeared to show at least two of the hostage-takers wearing a headband that resembled the ISIL flag. Other images showed prisoners wielding knives.
