Three guards and 29 prisoners were killed in Sunday’s unrest in a maximum-security penal colony to the east of Dushanbe. It is the Tajik inmates’ second attempt to flee over the previous year.
It should be noted that the militants of the so-called Islamic State are serving their terms in the colony, BBC reports with reference to the Tajik authorities.
Rioting broke out on May, 19 in penal colony No 3/2 located in the town of Vakhdat. According to the Justice Ministry, it was stirred up by 30 prisoners who were members of the ‘Islamic State’.
The instigators who ‘intended to escape from prison’ armed with knives and cutting instruments, then took hostage three officers and killed them. In addition, the authorities state that the alleged IS militants murdered five prisoners.
“As a result of the operation which was carried out in accordance with the law, 24 members of the group were neutralized, and 35 others were detained. Hostages were released,” the ministry reported.
However, media outlets are calling people’s attention to the fact that not only IS militants, but also religious figures and members of the opposition Islamic Renaissance party (it is recognized extremist organization only in Tajikistan, but not abroad) were among the killed. The party demands the international community should conduct an independent investigation into the incident in the Tajik penal colony.
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