Three prison guards and 29 inmates killed after Isis prisoners start riot

Militants armed themselves with knives to attack guards and fellow prisoners

Isis has lost large swathes of the territory it once claimed in Syria and Iraq (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Three prison guards and 29 inmates have been killed in a high-security prison in Tajikistan after convicted Isis militants started a riot.

Militants armed themselves with knives and killed three guards and five fellow prisoners in the prison in the city of Vakhdat, the Central Asian nation’s Justice Ministry said.

One of the instigators of the riot was Bekhruz Gulmurod, a son of Gulmurod Khalimov, a Tajik special forces colonel who defected to Isis in 2015, and according to the ministry, has since been killed in Syria.

Security forces killed 24 militants and restored order in the prison, which has 1,500 inmates, the ministry added.

Vakhdat is located 10km (six miles) east of the capital Dushanbe.

Isis has lost large swathes of the territory it once claimed in Syria and Iraq.

The terror group claimed responsibility for another prison riot in Tajikistan last November.

An inmate believed to be a member of Isis attacked a guard and seized his assault rifle.

The riot led to the deaths of at least 25 inmates and two security officers.

It followed a deadly attack by the extremist group's followers on Western tourists in July 2018.