Posted on 09/01/2004 3:56:34 AM PDT by Grzegorz 246
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Armed attackers seized a school in southern Russia near Chechnya (news - web sites) on Wednesday, took up to 400 children and adults hostage and threatened to blow up the building if police tried to storm it, news agencies said.
In an assault that bore the hallmarks of a Chechen rebel operation, the gang, numbering up to 17 heavily-armed men and women, stormed into the secondary school in Beslan in North Ossetia province during a ceremony to mark the first day of the new school year.
RIA news agency said the gang, some of whom were strapped with explosives, had herded their captives into the school's gymnasium and mined it. They had threatened to blow up the building with their captives if interior ministry forces tried to take it by force.
Itar-Tass news agency said the militants were demanding the release of fighters seized in neighboring Ingushetia in June during a huge rebel raid on the region.
At least three civilians were killed and 11 injured in the initial phase of the attack, Tass quoted the local interior ministry as saying.
The agency said nearly 50 children managed to escape.
It was the latest in a wave of violence that has hit Russia in recent weeks, blamed on Chechen separatists and raising questions over President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites)'s hardline strategy to bring the rebels to heel.
Previous mass hostage-taking by Chechen militants in Russia have ended in heavy loss of life.
BODIES ON GROUND
"One body is lying near the entrance to the school. Two others are on the road near a fence. The attackers are not allowing anyone to collect the bodies. They open fire when anyone tries to approach them," Tass quoted the ministry official as saying after the school attack.
Schoolchildren, calling from inside the besieged building, told their parents that some people had been injured, possibly killed, as militants seized the building.
Reports of the exact number of hostages held varied between 200 and 400 and the number of children between 120 and 200. The school normally has about 900 schoolchildren and 60 teachers.
As interior ministry troops poured into the area, gunfire between the hostage-takers and police erupted.
Russian TV at the scene showed police racing for cover as bullets whined around the school building.
The mass hostage-taking was a new challenge to Putin's Chechnya policies. On Tuesday, a female suicide bomber blew herself up in central Moscow in an attack that killed 10 people and injured 51.
And on August 24 two passenger planes were blown up apparently by suicide bombers in attacks that killed 90 people.
There was no immediate word from Putin, who was in the Black Sea resort of Sochi where on Tuesday he had met German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and France's Jacques Chirac.
He had been due to visit Turkey this week but it seemed likely he may now have to call off his planned trip.
UP TO 400 SEIZED
"There could be up to 400 children and teachers held hostage," Irina Terkina, a spokeswoman for Putin's envoy in southern Russia, said by telephone.
Tass quoted local police as saying the attackers, some of whom were armed with shoulder-launched grenades, had rolled up at school No. 1 in a truck.
Several children had managed to escape as the drama began to unfold. "There is information that several kids managed to escape. They are now being questioned by police," Tass quoted a police source as saying.
"A police patrol at the school was the first to engage in fighting with the fighters...One of the attackers was killed," the source added.
In a separate report, Tass said, without giving a source, that some teachers may have been killed.
North Ossetia lies to the west of the seething Chechnya region where Russian forces have been fighting a war with separatist rebels for a decade.
There was no immediate charge that Chechen rebels were behind the attack, but the well-organized assault and the proximity to Chechnya suggested they may well be involved.
An attack on a school has always been my most dreaded fear. But until now, I thought they'd never do it. It looks like terrorists have gotten even more filthy, if that's possible.
Just another example of why teachers should be allowed to carry gun to class.
We would get our asses kicked just like on 9/11.
Most state laws ban guns on schools, even for those that have gone through extensive background checks and training to obtain 'permits' to carry guns.
And most of the sheeple lack a warrior mindset and the accompanying tools to deal with such a problem.
Until the gov't stops treating gun owners in this country like criminals, schools will be an easy target for terrorists.
Some schools I might agree, but most public school teachers....
The author was very careful to tell us that all of these attacks were committed by the religion of peace.
Militant Islam must be crushed.
We have to wary of something like this happening to influence our Nov election.
It doesn't take many terrorists create havoc, death and destruction with the right plans.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1204503/posts?q=1&&page=1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1204533/posts
They are not people. And should be treated accordingly.
Putin should just flatten Chechnya. Just flatten it. Just more Muslim death worshippers, that is all they are. Give them what they crave, give them Death.
These are not "Separatist Rebels".
These are MUSLIM TERRORISTS, a term that is becoming redundant.
How do I know this for certain sure?
When we were in Russia back in March of 2002, I asked a Physician why the Russians were being so heavy-handed with the Chechens. Why not just let them cecede?
Here is a synopsis of his answer.
Ukraine, Georgia, Muldova, Byelorussia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Dagostan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhistan, Turkmenistan, virtually ALL of the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States formed when Gorbachov dissolved the Soviet Union ceceded from the Commonwealth without firing a shot.
What was the difference in Chechnya?
It wasn't enough for the predominantly Muslim population to cecede.
No, no, no, they had to install Sharia Law and called upon their Afghan brethren to help them do it.
Upon the establishment of Sharia Law, the Taliban started arresting and executing Russian Orthodox priests and Protestant Pastors. See http://www.persecution.org/Countries/chechnya.html for a partial list of their atrocities against the Christian population.
The Russians told them to cut it out. The Chechen Taliban response was to start persecuting Russian ethnics, whereupon Russia sent in the troops and tanks to protect the indiginous Russian and non-Muslim population.
The Chechen Taliban responded by blowing up civilian targets in Russia, killing over 300 people in 1998 alone.
Things have been escalating from there.
Islam MUST BE ELIMINATED!!!!
Cecession
Islam the religion of peace.
Thankfully Bush is NOT waging a war of sensitivity
Yes, but I don't think that It's all about religion, It's just about the "people", who use this religion.
How would America respond?
August 1, 1966, somehting happened that had never happened before in Austin, Texas - or in America for that matter.
The first "mass" attack inside the United States with no purpose other than to kill and terrorize. A sniper had taken a position on top of the UT Austin tower. He shot many times, killed many, wounded and terrorized others. The City of Austin was shocked.
And then something happened.
Many Texans drove pickup trucks at the time, and carried hunting rifles in the back window. It was in the middle of deer season. These men went to Austin, took out their rifles, and started trading shots with the sniper. All over Austin, men stopped their trucks, took out their guns, and took up defensive positions around the tower. One gentlemen even hired an airplane and pilot, so that he could attack the sniper on the tower from above. It was a good idea, until Charles Whitman took a shot back at the plane and caused damage to the engine.
How did Texans repond to that day?
A combination of saddness and anger.
Saddness at the death. Anger at the sniper.
Charles Whitman died that day, by a bullet fired from a deputy sherrif who forced his way into the tower's obervation floor.
Should Islaminazi's conduct an operation against a school inside the United States - they may get their wish for a Jihad.
All of them will die in the retribution to follow.
I have a feeling Russian parents feel the same way. They are just like those Texans of many years ago. In shock, angry, and determined to do something about it.
Islaminazi's might want to consider the consequences of what they wish for. What they hope to happen will be followed by something that they do not even contemplate.
The death of Islam.
Islamic Terrorists Bent on Jihad Seize 400 Innocents at Russia School
Islam is a backward religeon, who was ignored for a long time.
Now they have oil underneath them, and can buy arms.
Picture any 15th century religeous group, brought into our modern times. They would all do the same.
Only one thing to do: Crush them.
As I've been saying, we need closer cooperation with the Russians in this war on terror. We're in this together.
Armed attackers = Muslim terrorists.
Why can't they just say it?
15 children free.
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