32 killed in Tajik prison riot instigated by son of Islamic State’s dead ‘Minister of War’
- Militants armed themselves with knives and killed three guards and five fellow prisoners
- Security forces killed 24 militants and restored order in the prison which has 1,500 inmates
A riot at a prison in Tajikistan left 32 people dead, including 24 members of Islamic State and three guards, authorities said Monday.
Five of the inmates and the three guards were killed by IS prisoners during the riot that erupted on Sunday evening, the justice ministry said in a statement.
The prison in Vakhdat, 17km (11 miles) east of the capital Dushanbe, holds 1,500 inmates.
It said the prisoners first stabbed to death three guards, and then five other inmates “in order to intimidate” the others.
They then took other prisoners hostage before opening fire on the jail’s medical facilities.
“Following a reprisal operation, 24 members of this group were killed and 25 others arrested. The hostages were freed” and calm restored to the prison, the statement said.