Posted on 09/03/2004 6:34:51 PM PDT by Arthalion
(AP) A commando takes a postition at a seized school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Friday, Sept. 3, 2004....
BESLAN, Russia (AP) - The three-day hostage siege at a school in southern Russia ended in chaos and bloodshed Friday, after witnesses said Chechen militants set off bombs and Russian commandos stormed the building. Hostages fled in terror, many of them children who were half-naked and covered in blood. Officials estimated the death toll at more than 200.
Early Saturday, 531 people remained hospitalized, including 283 children - 92 of the youngsters in "very grave" condition, health officials said.
Sixty-two hours after the hostage drama began during a celebration marking the first day of the school year, the Russian government said resistance had ended.
Valery Andreyev, Russia's Federal Security Service chief in the region, said 10 Arabs were among 27 militants who were killed. The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing unidentified security sources, reported the hostage-taking was the work of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who had al-Qaida backing.
(AP) People carry a stretcher with a victim from a seized school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Friday, Sept.... 
Alla Gadieyeva, 24, who was taken captive with her 7-year-old son and mother, said the militants displayed terrifying brutality from the start. One gunman, whose pockets were stuffed with grenades, held up the corpse of a man just shot in front of hundreds of hostages and warned: "If a child utters even a sound, we'll kill another one."
When children fainted from lack of sleep, food and water, their masked and camouflaged captors simply sneered, she said, adding that adults implored children to drink their own urine in the intolerable heat of the gym.
She and other hostages said there was a little water but no food the first day. The hostages got nothing to eat or drink after that.
Gadieyeva told of three days of unspeakable horror - of children so frightened they couldn't sleep, of captors coolly threatening to kill off hostages one by one. The gym where they were held was so cramped there was hardly room to move.
"We were in complete fear," said Gadieyeva, who spoke to an Associated Press reporter as she lay collapsed with exhaustion on a stretcher outside a hospital. "People were praying all the time, and those that didn't know how to pray - we taught them."
(AP) Bodies of schoolchildren and hostages killed in a school seizure seen in a hospital morgue in... 
The Interfax news agency quoted unidentified sources in the regional Health Ministry as saying more than 200 people were killed. The figure could not be confirmed. Reporters said they had seen at least 100 bodies in the school gym.
Under a grove of trees outside the school, white sheets covered dead bodies, including those of children, on lines of stretchers. Grieving parents and loved ones knelt beside the dead, some of whom were awaiting identification. Nearby, anxious crowds gathered around lists of injured posted on the walls of the hospital buildings.
It was not clear where the tragic end to the siege would leave President Vladimir Putin's tough policy on Chechnya, which has enjoyed broad domestic support despite the heavy toll rebel violence has taken in recent years. He has said the Russian fight in the Caucasus was part of the world's larger war on terrorism.
On the campaign trail in Wisconsin, President Bush said the hostage siege was "another grim reminder" of the lengths to which terrorists will go. World governments joined Washington in condemning the militants.
"It is hard to express my revulsion at the inhumanity of terrorists prepared to put children and their families through such suffering," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.
(AP) Bodies of schoolchildren and hostages killed in a school seizure seen in a hospital morgue in... 
The State Department issued a public announcement warning U.S. citizens living or traveling in Russia against going to Chechnya and the neighboring regions because of a heightened risk of terrorist attacks.
"American citizens in Russia should exercise caution and remain vigilant and aware of these heightened risks when planning use of or using any form of public transportation. American citizens should also avoid large public gatherings that lack enhanced security measures," the announcement said.
The Arab presence among the attackers would support Putin's contention that al-Qaida terrorists were deeply involved in the Chechen conflict, where Muslim fighters have been battling Russian forces in a brutal war of independence on and off for more than a decade. ITAR-Tass said Basayev received funding for the attack from allege al-Qaida operative, Abu Omar as-Saif.
Russian authorities said they stormed the building after the militants set off explosions and fired shots as emergency teams approached to collect the bodies of several men killed earlier. They said the hostage-takers had given them permission to take the corpses away. Witnesses quoted by Russian media said the militants opened fire on fleeing hostages and then began to escape themselves.
A police explosives expert told NTV television that the commandos stormed the building after bombs wired to basketball hoops exploded in the gymnasium, where many of the children were being held. A captive who escaped told NTV that a suicide bomber blew herself up in the gym.
(AP) Bodies of schoolchildren killed in a school seizure seen in Beslan, North Ossetia, Friday, Sept. 3,... 
Channel One TV reported three of the attackers were arrested after trying to escape in civilian dress. Four militants were believed to have escaped. A member of an elite security unit died saving two young girls, ITAR-Tass reported.
The standoff was declared at an end hours after commandos began their midday assault, when a final large explosion issued from the school, apparently ending a gunfight between three militants trapped in the school basement and security forces trying to free children being used as human shields. Sporadic shooting continued hours later.
A hostage who escaped told the AP that the militants numbered 28, including women wearing camouflage uniforms. The hostage, who identified himself only as Teimuraz, said the militants began wiring the school with explosives as soon as they took control. He, too, said they had placed bombs on both basketball hoops in the gym.
The bomb expert said the gym had been rigged with explosives packed in plastic bottles strung up around the room on a cord and stuffed with metal objects.
The militants, some with explosives strapped to their bodies, stormed the school in Beslan on Wednesday morning and kept the hundreds of children along with parents in the sweltering gymnasium, refusing to allow deliveries of food and water.
"They didn't let me go to the toilet for three days, not once. They never let me drink or go to the toilet," Teimuraz said.
Leonid Roshal, a pediatrician involved in negotiations with the militants before they were stormed, called them "very cruel people ... a ruthless enemy."
"I talked with them many times on my cell phone, but every time I ask to give food, water and medicine to the hostages they refuse my request," Roshal said.
Putin's adviser on Chechnya, Aslanbek Aslakhanov, said security forces had not planned to storm the building, but were prompted to move by the first explosions about 1 p.m. Friday. Officials had pledged not to use force.
Russian forces had held back, perhaps remembering the deadly outcome two years ago when security troops pumped nerve gas into a Moscow theater before storming in to free about 800 hostages being held by Chechen terrorists. The nerve gas debilitated the captors but also was the cause of most of the 129 hostage deaths.
As the captives escaped the school, residents and troops ran through the streets, and the wounded were carried off on stretchers. An AP reporter saw ambulances speeding by, the windows streaked with blood. Four armed men in civilian clothes ran by, shouting, "A militant ran this way."
Streets around the school were a dizzying tableau of chaos as soldiers and men in civilian clothes carried children - some naked, some clad only in underpants, some covered in blood, some bandaged. Women, newly freed from the school, fainted.
The children drank eagerly from bottles of water given to them once they reached safety. Many of the children had removed their clothing because of the stifling heat in the gymnasium.
"I am helping you," a man dressed in camouflage told a crying girl. Women gathered around, trying to soothe her, saying "It's all right. It's all right."
This may serve to show the complacent of the world just what we're up against.
Dear God, watch over the relatives of these victims. Please keep President Bush in office and give him the strength keep our country at the forefront of this fight against animals that can do this.
People (all over the world) need, no MUST,understand that terrorists HATE EVERYBODY but themselves. There can never be any kind of truce with evil. It needs to be wiped from the face of the earth!
A charity for the victims:
http://www.moscowhelp.org
MISSION STATEMENT - BESLAN
THE FUND'S GOAL IS TO HELP THE CHILDREN AFFECTED BY THE TERRORIST ACT IN BESLAN
The complete fallout of the terror act in Beslan is not yet clear. What is clear is that this is the worst terror-related human catastrophe in the history of Russia. As of now, media reports indicate at least 150 victims who already died as a direct result of this terrorist act, and over 600 victims, mainly children, have been taken to local hospitals, a large number of them with very serious injuries.
The Foundation was originally established in 2002 to raise personal and corporate charitable donations to help families of the Nord-Ost terror victims. That project was successfully completed with all donations fully distributed.
On September 11, 2001, Russian people and the whole world stood by the people of the United States, Canada, and all other countries whose citizens became victims of that unprecedented terrorist attack.
The Beslan hostage crisis is an example of the same type of terrorism that has perpetrated the September 11 attack. In terms of the number of people involved and the worldwide attention and solidarity, the Beslan siege can in many ways be compared to the major attacks against the US and many other countries.
The Foundation is managed by a group of activists and operates in full accordance with applicable US charity laws.
All personal donations will be used solely to help the children who were injured in Beslan or whose parents died as a result of this terror act.
I second that emotion.
Wow, that is interesting.
Maybe its an American helping out.
I'd like to know what the text is under Ol' Glory.
"It is now my understanding that the Russians are holding several live terrorists captured during the raids."
Excellent. Our Russian friends will have no compunction dealing with these animals in an appropriate fashion. Strange, but I doubt there are many voices in that country tonight that are calling for an understanding of the terrorists and guilty introspection of Russian foreign policy.
can anyone ping this to someone who can enlarge what is written under the American flag on this guy's tee-shirt? then we can babelfish it.
I better not say what I'm thinking about those sons of Satan!!.
I’m not a nuke’m kind of guy.
I think that the best solution here is for Putnam to pick the most rebellions Chechnyan province, tell the women and children to get out, and then nuke the hell out of it.
Repeat until the enemy’s will to resist is defeated.
In reagrds to the 3 captured: I like to know how many fingernails the Russians have pulled out so far or drilled teeth without novaciane to get info.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!
It will be interesting to see the fallout-response to this. Last time the Russian attempted a hostage rescuse they were browbeat to death for it. Will this happen again. I bet it will. Lets say for purposes of discussion it is justified, all it in reality does is take the eyes off the terrorists as being the sole cause of this holocaust.
Remember the horror in our country of Columbine. This is close to being a Russia 9-11. The numbers are not as high, but when children are gunned down in the back, its hard to think of anything as depraved as that. The Russian response should be with a pre-emptive one, with no mercy. Anything else would be a sad statement indeed. I have a sinking feeling the response will be far from adequate.
On the bright side-- Russia is very experienced in dealing out brute force.
The leaders there will probably continue to call for understanding of the terrorists in Iran, though.
Speaking of nukes, what kind of nuclear materials do the Chechens have access to?
In reagrds to the 3 captured: I like to know how many fingernails the Russians have pulled out so far or drilled teeth without novaciane to get info
well I sure hope they don't put panties on their head. Got to be sensitive you know
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