At least five prisoners convicted for links to Islamic State, were killed after attacking guards with knives and trying to break out of a jail in Tajikistan, a law enforcement source said.
ISIS-K
The Islamic State militant group was defeated in Syria in 2019 but splinter groups including Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) have continued attacks, including a mass shooting at a concert hall near Moscow last year.
ISIS-K takes its name from an old Persian term for the region, Khorasan, that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, as well as areas of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Tajikistan’s Justice Ministry said that the prisoners tried to kill the guards and escape from the penal colony 20 km (12 miles) east of Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital.
A source in Tajik law enforcement, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the prisoners involved had been convicted over links to Islamic State and the Jihadi Salafi movement.
Both are banned in Tajikistan.
A predominantly Sunni Muslim country, Tajikistan is home to 10 million people and is one of the poorest former Soviet republics.
Three Employees Also Injured
Three employees were also seriously injured in the riot in Tajikistan city of Vahdat, two sources in the country’s security agencies told Reuters on Tuesday.
“As a result of the attack, three employees were seriously injured. They are in a stable condition”, the Justice ministry said.
Among those injured was the head of the prison’s administration, who was taken to hospital in serious condition, a source told Reuters.
Unverified video on Telegram channels showed what they said were the dead prisoners in puddles of blood.
Use Of Homemade Knives
Nine prisoners armed with homemade knives attacked guards, according to the Justice Ministry.
Murderous Assault
The ministry said that the prisoners tried to kill the guards and escape from the penal colony 20 km (12 miles) east of Dushanbe.
Prisoner Wore A Hat Showing Loyalty To IS
At least one prisoner wore a hat with the official Islamic State flag.
Andrei Serenko, an analyst of the region, said that Islamic State supporters had started the escape attempt – and that they had briefly raised the flag of the Sunni Muslim militant group over the prison.
Reuters could not independently confirm the reports about Islamic State.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the riot.
Investigation
A criminal investigation into the incident has been launched, the Prosecutor’s Office told Reuters.
IS Claimed Responsibility For A Previous Riot
In May 2019, 29 prisoners and three guards were killed at the penal colony when a riot broke out.
Tajikistan authorities said at the time that the riot was instigated by members of extremist groups, and later the Islamic State claimed responsibility.
In 2018, 21 prisoners and two guards were killed in a prison in the northern city of Khujand in Tajikistan.
