DUSHANBE – At least five prisoners were killed and three employees were injured in a riot spurred by an attempted escape from a prison in the Tajikistan city of Vahdat, two sources in the country’s security agencies told Reuters on Tuesday.
Nine prisoners armed with homemade knives attacked guards on Tuesday, according to the justice ministry which said the prisoners had tried to kill the guards and escape from the penal colony 20 km (12 miles) east of Dushanbe.
“As a result of the attack, three employees were seriously injured,” the ministry said. They are in a stable condition, it said.
Among those injured was the head of the prison’s administration, who was taken to hospital in serious condition, a source told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Unverified video on Telegram channels showed what they said were the dead prisoners in puddles of blood. 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.
A criminal investigation into the incident has been launched, the Prosecutor’s Office told Reuters.
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.
REUTERS