Russia: Hostage takers in a detention center eliminated

The prisoners who took the employees of the Rostov-on-Don pre-trial detention center hostage have been liquidated, the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Rostov region told TASS, adding that the hostages are safe.A criminal case has been opened into the hostage taking.Security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia on Sunday, killing inmates who had taken two members of staff hostage, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.The hostages at the pretrial detention center in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service.It said that the hostage takers had been “liquidated,” with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed.
Earlier, state news agency Tass, citing unnamed sources in law enforcement, had said that six hostage takers were in the central courtyard of the Rostov region’s Detention Center No. 1, armed with a penknife, a rubber baton and a fire ax. The prisoners include men accused of links to the Islamic State group, it said.
IS have carried out a number of attacks on Russian soil in recent years, including most recently in March when gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.