End of hostage taking in Russia. The two prison officers held hostage this Sunday morning by members of the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) in a detention center in the Rostov region, in the south of the country, were released unharmed, announced the prison services.
“During a special operation (…) the criminals were liquidated and the employees found hostage were released and were not injured,” the prison services said in a press release. Earlier, they indicated that “negotiations on the release of the hostages were underway”.
Several terrorist attacks
According to a source within the police interviewed by the state agency TASS, members of ISIS who must appear in court on charges of “terrorism” are among the hostage-takers.
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 20 people have since been arrested, including the four suspected attackers, all from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia neighboring Afghanistan. The attack was quickly claimed by the Islamic State organization.
