Russian Forces Storm Detention Facility, Kill ISIS-linked Hostage Takers

Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP
Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP
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Russian Forces Storm Detention Facility, Kill ISIS-linked Hostage Takers

Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP
Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP

Russian security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia, ending a hostage standoff, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday.

The hostages at the facility 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.

State media said that some of the men were accused of affiliation with the ISIS militant group, which claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall in March.
Before special forces stormed the detention center, one of the hostage takers was shown by the 112 Telegram channel brandishing a knife beside one of the bound guards.
 



Netanyahu Receives Warning from Panel Probing Submarine Purchase 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a state memorial ceremony at Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv on June 18, 2024. (AFP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a state memorial ceremony at Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv on June 18, 2024. (AFP)
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Netanyahu Receives Warning from Panel Probing Submarine Purchase 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a state memorial ceremony at Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv on June 18, 2024. (AFP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a state memorial ceremony at Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv on June 18, 2024. (AFP)

An Israeli commission investigating suspected wrongdoing in government purchases of submarines and missile boats from Germany issued a warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

The panel notified Netanyahu that based on evidence gathered thus far, it could ultimately determine that he had used his position as prime minister between 2009 and 2016 to greenlight the purchases without due process.

"By doing so, he (Netanyahu) endangered the security of the state and harmed the state of Israel's foreign relations and economic interests," said the panel in its written decision, made public on Monday.

Netanyahu in response said that the submarines were central to Israel's security "in ensuring its existence against Iran, which is trying to destroy us".

"History will prove that Prime Minister Netanyahu was right on this issue as well and made the right decisions for the security of Israel," the statement from his office said.

The commission, established under the previous government in 2022, said that it will soon publish unclassified parts of the evidence collected during the probe into the deal, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Netanyahu has struggled to salvage his security credentials since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led fighters, who killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza according to Israeli tallies, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

In the Israeli assault on Gaza that followed, more than 37,000 people have been killed according to Gaza health authorities.