Russian soldiers carry the coffin of a victim from the Tu-154
Posted on 08/28/2004 3:32:55 AM PDT by MadIvan
Russian officials investigating the crashes of two passenger planes have discovered the remains of two Chechen women thought to be "Black Widows" - suicide bombers given that name because many have lost husbands in the war with Russia.
Officials have also found traces of explosive in the wreckage of at least one of the planes, all but confirming the theory that the jets, which crashed on Tuesday night killing 90, were destroyed by terrorist attacks.
Russian soldiers carry the coffin of a victim from the Tu-154 |
Yesterday a group associated with al-Qa'eda and calling itself the Islambuli Brigade said on an Islamic website that it was responsible, though the veracity of the claim was impossible to confirm. "Russia's slaughtering of Muslims is still continuing and will not end except with a bloody war," the statement said.
The smaller of the two planes - a Tu-134 which crashed near Tula, south of Moscow, with 44 people on board - was carrying a Chechen woman passenger, identified as Amanta Nagayeva, who bought a ticket an hour before the flight.
Her body was almost completely vaporised by the bomb but experts found two fragments more than one and a half miles apart. She was the only passenger on the flight whose remains are unclaimed.
Police records show she was born in 1977 near Vedeno, the home village of a militant Chechen warlord, Shamil Basayev. She lived in Grozny, the Chechen capital.
Explosives experts also said they had found traces of the military explosive hexogen in the wreckage of the larger jet, a Tu-154 that broke up near the southern Russian city of Rostov, killing 46.
A second Chechen woman, named as S Djerbikhanova, was initially booked on another flight to the Black Sea resort of Sochi which was due to carry more than 300 passengers. During check-in, she changed her ticket to the less popular evening flight.
Djerbikhanova sat in seat 19F, nine rows from the tail, which is considered the most vulnerable part of the plane. Her body is the only one that remains unclaimed from the Tu-154. There was confusion yesterday about how she was allowed to board.
A representative of Sibir, the airline, said: "We were surprised to discover a complete absence of any of her personal details. It seems she simply gave her name when buying the ticket . . . How could she have passed passport control? That is not our responsibility, but that of the airport."
The attacks are deeply embarrassing for President Vladimir Putin who swept to power on a pledge to eradicate Chechen militants and bring security to Russia.
This weekend the Kremlin is organising elections in Chechnya to appoint a president to replace Akhmad Kadyrov, the pro-Moscow leader who was killed in May in a bomb attack that Islamic militants said they carried out.
Mr Putin has announced that airport security will now be brought under the control of the interior ministry.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
That sort of puts things in perspective, MI. With the droves of middle/upper class caucasion intellectuals poised to ruin a good, conservative convention in NYC, you have to wonder who the real enemy might be these days.
Regards
They'll be a heck of a lot tougher about profiling than the US.
But how can they profile? After all, they claim Chechens are Russians. They deny that Chechens are an independent people who should have an independent state... how can they then profile them?
Simple solution: no Muslim garbage on any airplanes, anywhere in the world.
No Muslims = No Terrorism = No Death.
Look for Russia to arm its pilots, too.
Look for Russia to arm its pilots, too.
bttt
This should be a wake-up call for the Russians. Which side are they truly on?
I would hope so. Like we should have done, immediately after 9-11.
The Russians have the same problem with terrorists that we have. I don't trust the Russians any farther than I can see them, but we could work with them to eliminate terrorists.
"Look for Russia to arm its pilots, too "
With MUCH LESS hassle then here...
Wait till the Chechens get their Nuclear bomb from the Iranians . Russians building their reactor for them so they can make bombs, What the hell is Russia thinking about?
Wonder why? To aid in a hijack attempt, the fewer passengers the better?
I flew round trip from Louisville to St Louis last week. I was searched (patted down) each time even though I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and was traveling on official Army business with a Department of the Army ID card. The searcher in St Louis even went so far as to have me step into a closed off area so he could further inspect my fly as I had on Levi 501's with metal buttons. I think it is past time to start profiling, especially since there were two men of obvious middle east origing, they were speaking Arabic, behind me in line and they went straight through.
I remember the "black widows" in the Moscow theater attack..They had on suicide bomb belts but were gassed...I have no doubt they would do this.
In the Civil War, the Lincoln administration *never* to my knowledge admitted that the Confederacy was a separate country. That didn't stop Lincoln from ordering General Sherman to cut a scorched-earth swath through Georgia. The Russians can profile Chechnyans and/or Muslims all they want, IMO.
Yep, I think it's time for a little "guilt by association" to force the Muslim world to take out the trash. After all, it is their problem.
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