BREAKING NEWS: Attackers seize Russian school

[Erikl]

Attackers seize Russian school

Wednesday, September 1, 2004 Posted: 4:32 AM EDT (0832 GMT)

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Armed attackers have seized a school in a town in southern Russia, and Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency says about 400 people, including 200 children, are being held.

The Interfax news agency, citing Ismel Shaov, a regional spokesman for the Federal Security Service, said there were 17 attackers, both male and female, and the gang included some who were wearing explosive belts.

Wednesday's seizure took place on the first day of the Russian school year, in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

Video of the scene from Russian Television showed Russian forces stationed near the school, some of them behind a tank, as the sound of gunfire could be heard. A young girl and an older woman were hurried to safety by the armed forces.

Beslan is located 19 miles (30 km) north of Vladikavkaz in southern Russia, which borders the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya.

The seizure of the school comes a day after a female suicide bomber killed nine people and herself, and wounded 51 others when she detonated a bomb outside a subway station in northeastern Moscow. (Full story)

Authorities did not immediately say if the female bomber was Chechen.

The bombing marked the second major terrorist attack on Russia in a week, following the near simultaneous attacks on two Russian airliners by what authorities believe were two Chechen women suicide bombers. Eighty-nine people died in the crashes.

Female Chechen suicide bombers are known in Russia as "black widows."

Authorities have said traces of the explosive hexogen were found in the wreckage of both planes. Hexogen, when mixed with nitroglycerin, forms a plastic explosive similar to C4 and has been used by Chechen rebels in attacks on Russian soil in the past.

Chechen rebels -- who refused to take part in Chechen elections held Sunday and vowed to take their fight to Russian soil -- have denied responsibility.

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But many Russian politicians are already linking them to Tuesday's suicide bombing, calling it revenge for the elections in which a Kremlin-backed candidate won the presidency.

Russian troops have battled separatist guerrillas in Chechnya since 1994.

In October 2002, about 50 Chechen rebels seized a Moscow theater and took about 800 hostages.

After a three-day siege, Russian forces stormed the building using gas, killing most of the rebels and 120 hostages. (Timeline of attacks)

Sajjan Gohel, Director of International Security at the Asia Pacific Foundation, told CNN Wednesday's hostage-taking was a "major escalation" by militants.

"It seems that the militants are raising the stakes substantially. The Chechen militants' strategy is no longer just to engage Russian troops in Chechnya but to take it into Russia itself," he said.

"They have become very successful in that. They have been able to entrench themselves in Russia."

A girl is hurried away from the scene by Russian armed forces.

SOURCE

[Velikovsky]

Let's just see how many of the school children the Russian military end up killing.

[Erikl]

50 children have managed to escape, according to different sources.

Let's hope that other will succeed in escaping as well.

Also there are different sources saying that another school in the area is under attack .

[bathory]

Let's just see how many of the school children the Russian military end up killing

unless they give in to the demands of the terrorits they have a choice of

a) having some hostages kills

having all the hostages killed

i think they handled the theatre very well

[Erikl]

The terrorists have executed an untold number of teachers!

EDIT: shots are heard inside the school building!

Edited September 1, 2004 by Erikl

[wunarmdscissor]

yeah if theres one country you dont want to mess with its russia.

i think the theatre was handelled well as well.

They had no choice.

What would you rather tehy gave into terrorist demands?

I didnt know this but during the Theatre terrorists thing a couple of military experts were on Sky news and they said that the Russian special forces (can remember their name) and counter terrorism forces were even better than the american equivalent and even better than the S.A.S (who before then i thought were regarded as the best).

Hopefully this means theyll save as many people as possible.

[Erikl]

The name of special forces' unit was "Alpha".

They already arrived to the scene in Ossetia.

Also - the terrorists threat to murder 50 children if anyone of them will get hurt from Russian forces.

[wcturnersr]

This message is for any terrorist that may be reading this post.

You suck.

Osama sucks.

Your beliefs suck.

Your friends suck.

You and your group are nothing but a bunch of low lifes that hide their face and attack innocent men, women and children. When you get caught, if you are still alive and placed in prison, may you eat pork the rest of your miserable days. You are nothing but a total waste of human flesh. When you die, you will meet your true maker very briefly and then he will cast you down into the firey pits of hell. Then you will wonder why you did what you did. Why you believed in what you believed in. You will curse yourself and the people that brain-washed your simple-mind into thinking what you did was right.

Die terrorists,

DIE.

Edited September 1, 2004 by wcturnersr

[wunarmdscissor]

wcturner tha comment could construed as a highly bigoted comment against muslims in general.

I suggest you remove some comments ie"your god sucks"

[wcturnersr]

I removed it. But do understand this is for the terrorists.

[wunarmdscissor]

oh i know and agree but youhave to be careful.

One more thing if this is chechan rebels they are a seperate issue from the al-quaeda war. although they probably have links now.

[Talon]

Killing civilians is bad enough, but what kinda sick sub-human **** do you have to be take take hostage or kill children.

[wunarmdscissor]

thats is isnt it though talon.

They think we're the subhuman ones, to be honest with you i get the feeling from most muslim states and even from meeting muslims in the street that they do in general believe us to be beneath them.

How they can equate that to justifying taking children hostages is still beyond me?

I know i seem to contradict myself.

But i just dont know what to think.

[Erikl]

wcturnersr, whatever you wrote against muslims - it's only serves the terrorists.

If you label them as muslims, you are putting them as represenetives of that religion, which is exactly what they are trying to achieve.

Don't give them the pleasure in doing so.

And anyway, bashing any religion is bad, you shouldn't do it in anyway (especially if you are religious yourself).

[Erikl]

Wun, the terrorists have no problem killing themselves - so obviously they have no regards for other's lives.

Especially if they see those people as infidels and as heretics.

And the chechens have links to al-qaeda for a long time now.

[reese2]

This just further pushed the point that terrorism needs to be confronted on a global level, and met with a strong force. I know that I never want this to happen here, as much as I would never want it to happen in anyone's country.

This is really sad... My heart truly goes out to the children and parents of those children...

[wcturnersr]

I did not bash the muslims. I bashed the terrorists and they are terrorists because of their beliefs. If it was not for their beliefs, we most likely wouldn't be talking about this right now. I am not against anyone's religion, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.

Edited September 1, 2004 by wcturnersr

[reese2]

Don't fret too much Wcturnersr............... It wasn't that bad.. Terrorists don't deserve to have people care about their feelings...

I see what you were saying about the Muslims, if anything, it was just to say, that anyone who believes their God, would choose them to hurt others' in their name, is evil.

I got it...

[Dancing_Dumplings]

those poor kids!! how old are they??

[Erikl]

From the picture of that little girl holding the hands of the Russian soldiers, I'd say it's an elementary school

UPDATE: the mufti of Ossetia has been flown there by the Russians to talk to the terrorists.

[Erikl]

SEVEN HOSTAGES ARE DEAD!!

Terrorists now threat to murder all hostages.

[bathory]

you'd think these terrorists would realise that in the long term what they are doing is going to come back and bite them on the ass. If they keep up with such attacks I can imagine far right governments coming into power and simply commiting acts of genocide as a method of getting rid of the problem..

[Erikl]

Errmm... that has already been done... 75% of the Chechens have been killed by Stalin.

That stopped the terrorism for 45 years.

Now Russians are carpet bombing Chechen cities, but this doesn't stop the terrorism....

I can't see how a far right government can do anything worse to the Chechens... the only thing worse then this is building death camps and starting mass extermination of evey Chechen man, woman or child.

And I think that if indeed a neo-Nazi party will come into power, like some of us here on this forum are afraid of, this will happen.

Edited September 1, 2004 by Erikl

[Dancing_Dumplings]

but but but they are just little kids!

[Erikl]

    but but but they are just little kids!  

251397[/snapback]

True...