Russian snipers kill Islamist hostage-takers to end prison siege

Russia’s security services shot dead four inmates on Friday who had taken hostages at a penal colony, fatally stabbed four of its staff and posted online videos describing themselves as Islamic State militants, officials said.

“Snipers of the special forces of the Russian National Guard in the Volgograd region, with four precise shots, neutralised four prisoners who had taken prison employees hostage. The hostages have been released,” state news agency RIA quoted the National Guard as saying.

The federal prisons service said all four attackers had been “liquidated”. It said four of its staff had died of stab wounds, and others had been treated in hospital. A total of eight prison employees and four convicts had been held hostage, it said.

Read more: Reuters