Russian forces kill ISIS-linked hostage takers at detention center

Russian special forces freed two guards and killed several men linked to Islamic State who had taken them hostage at a detention center in the southern city of Rostov on Sunday, the prison service said.

Intense automatic gunfire could be heard in footage published on Russian Telegram channels.

“The criminals were eliminated,” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement, which said a “special operation” had taken place to free the hostages.

“The employees who were being held hostage were released. They are uninjured,” the prison service said.

The hostage takers, who included some already convicted of terrorism offenses, had knocked out the bars of a window in their cell and entered a guard room where they took at least two prison officers hostage, Russian media said.

Read more: NBC News