Security forces 'kill' IS hostage takers in Russian detention centre

Russian security forces stormed a detention centre in southern Russia on Sunday killing inmates who had taken two members of staff hostage, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Sunday.

The hostages at the pretrial detention centre in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service.

It said that the hostage takers had been “liquidated,” with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed.

Earlier, state news agency Tass, citing unnamed sources, the prisoners include men accused of links to the Islamic State group.

Tass reported that the six hostage takers were in the central courtyard of the Rostov region’s Detention Centre No. 1, armed with a penknife, a rubber baton and a fire axe.

"The number of inmates involved in the hostage-taking incident is believed to be six or seven" said Russian state-owned Sputnik news outlet.

Video emerged online that appeared to show the hostage takers with their hostages.

In one video filmed in Rostov-on-Don and posted by the Moscow Times gunfire can also be heard.

The hostage taking will raise questions as to why security wasn't tight enough at the detention centre - particularly as the prisoners, as members of Islamic State, would have been considered dangerous.

The extremist Islamic group have carried out a number of attacks on Russian soil in recent years, including most recently in March when gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.