ISIS-affiliated prisoners kill four prison guards in Russian penal colony

CNN
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Four officers were killed in a maximum security prison in Russia after inmates posing as members of IS took several staff members hostage, Russian state media reported.

Russian special forces said all suspected hostage-takers were “eliminated” during an operation in the penal colony in the town of Surovikino, during which some hostages were freed.

The National Guard of Russia, also known as Rosgvardia, wrote on Telegram: “Snipers of the special forces of the Russian National Guard in the Volgograd region neutralized four prisoners who had taken prisoner workers hostage with four targeted shots; the hostages were freed.”

Graphic images circulated on social media showing three uniformed prison staff lying motionless in pools of blood, one of whom had his throat slit. A fourth staff member was kneeling in a doorway.

In another video, the alleged hostage takers can be seen waving ISIS flags.

CNN has not verified the footage and there is no official confirmation of the attackers' motives. However, terror monitoring group SITE reviewed clips of the attack and said one of the suspects described the attack as “revenge” for the militants behind the attack on a concert hall near Moscow that killed more than 130 people.

The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service previously told state media outlet TASS that prisoners had captured prison staff at a meeting of the disciplinary commission.

“At a meeting of the disciplinary commission (which, among other things, considers cases of malicious violators) of the colony, several prisoners were detained by employees,” the penitentiary service said, according to TASS.

According to RIA Novosti, eight prison guards and four inmates were taken hostage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service had reported to him on the situation in the Volgograd colony.

The incident follows another hostage-taking in Russia in June, when two staff members at a pre-trial detention center in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don were freed after being held hostage by six inmates for several hours.

Those arrested had links to IS and were killed during the operation.

This story has been updated with additional information.