Snipers kill inmates who stabbed prison guards to death at Russia prison and held others hostage

Snipers from Russia's National Guard on Friday killed four inmates who had stabbed four prison guards to death and briefly held others as hostages, while declaring allegiance to the Islamic State group, officials said.

The Federal Prison Service said that four inmates took eight prison guards and four inmates hostage. It said they stabbed four of the guards, three of whom died on the spot and the fourth one later died at a hospital. The agency said three other guards were hospitalized with injuries.

Russia's National Guard said its snipers "neutralized" all four attackers, freeing all the hostages, while the Federal Prison Service also claimed credit for killing the assailants. The discrepancy couldn't be immediately explained.