Regards, Ivan
Posted on 06/22/2004 3:26:18 PM PDT by MadIvan
REBELS seized an Interior Ministry building and attacked police posts in the Russian autonomous southern republic of Ingushetia, bordering Chechnya, in raids early yesterday.
Abukar Kostoyev, the Interior Minister, was among 57 people killed in the raids mounted by a small army of 200 rebels. Up to 47 of the victims were law enforcement officials, authorities said.
Two rebels were reported to have been killed. A gun battle raged for four hours in Nazran, Ingushetia’s largest city, before Russian forces dislodged the rebels.
It was the biggest rebel operation in Ingushetia, a largely Muslim region with close ethnic links to Chechnya, since war erupted between Moscow and Chechen separatists in 1994.
The raids began at around midnight on Monday, when the rebels crossed the Ingush border from Chechnya and the republic of North Ossetia, local officials said.
Police said that the rebels tricked their way through checkpoints using false documents. They then raided police arms depots, gutted police headquarters and a building housing border guards, and tried in vain to free 50 inmates from a prison.
Television footage showed bodies of troops and civilians lying in the streets.
The violence dealt another severe blow to the Kremlin’s efforts to bring peace to the region, six weeks after Chechnya’s Moscow-backed President, Akhmad Kadyrov, was assassinated.
President Putin urged Russian forces to eliminate the rebels, who were believed to be heading in small groups towards Chechnya or Georgia. “They need to be found and wiped out, and those who can be caught must be caught alive and brought to trial,” he said.
Mr Putin later made a lightning trip to Ingushetia by helicopter, to meet the region’s President, Murat Zyazikov. “Judging by what’s going on here, the federal centre is not doing enough to defend the republic,” Mr Putin declared, adding that he was despatching fresh troops to Ingushetia.
Alu Alkhanov, the Chechen Interior Minister, who has won the Kremlin’s blessing to run for the region’s presidency, said that the rebel leader, Shamil Basayev, was behind the attack. Mr Basayev, the most-wanted man in Russia, has claimed responsibility for Mr Kadyrov’s murder and a series of suicide bomb attacks in Russia in the past year.
“We have information that Basayev worked out this operation and his people put it into operation,” Mr Alkhanov said.
Mr Basayev was also behind a failed assassination attempt on President Zyazikov, earlier this year.
Over the past decade, more than 66,000 people have fled Chechnya to seek refuge in Ingushetia. Authorities closed the last refugee camps this year to try to encourage them to return to Chechnya, but many still live with relatives or in makeshift shelters.
The rebels wanted “to destabilise the situation in the republic, widen the zone of military activity and sow panic among the peaceful population,” Mr Zyazikov said.
Mr Zyazikov said some of the rebels involved in yesterday’s attack had been detained. He said they were of various ethnic groups but gave no further details.
Issa Kostoyev, who represents Ingushetia on the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, suggested the attack was revenge for recent operations by security services to eliminate and arrest rebel leaders.
Human rights groups say that dozens of young men have disappeared in such operations this year. Amnesty International is due to release a report today showing that disappearances and human rights abuses are increasingly spreading to Ingushetia.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Given the details of this attack, the Russians should take off the gloves in this struggle. And the US and UK should encourage them to do so.
Indian wars are always a bitch.
If Putin does what his statements here indicate, the Russians should be okay.
OH OH
Look like Vlad is not going be too happy hey Ivan only report of this being reported on BBC world news and Tass news wire Fox news carry little a bit here in the US
Payback going be B****
In reality the raid was a failure.
Lets see if Russia plays grab a$$ like the US dose.
now, klintoon and his crowd protested against Moscow when they went after these Mooslim terrorists, but now that we know Mooslim terrorists a little better, aren't we a little more willing to tell Putty, "go to it - God Bless"...?
If Putin has an ounce of brains, he will get together with GW Bush & Tony Blair and solve this problem once and for all! A combined Russian/British/USA force could barge right into Pakistan, find and kill OBL and clean that place out overnight. And...that is only starters!
Since the USA (Clinton and Bush pre 9/11) and Blair diplomaticly backed the Chechens Putin does not trust us much.
I have to wonder about Putin's recent and well-publicized statement that the Russians warned Bush of Hussein's involvement with Islamic terrorists. Pooty clearing common ground?
BTTT
Yeah good going Dubya
Chechen are islamic terrorist they are fighting actually Chechen been pain in the a*** since Tsar's days if you really think about it
The current incarnation of the nazi party and japanese bushido is islam it would appear.
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