Posted on 09/04/2004 12:43:18 PM PDT by yankeedame
A day of horror for the residents of Beslan, as the siege at the No 1 school comes to a bloody end.
Gunfire and blasts were heard from inside the building - then there was pandemonium as the hostages fled for their lives.
Russian commandos stormed the building in an unplanned response to the sudden violence.
Shooting continued as soldiers - and, some reports say, armed parents - went after the hostage-takers.
For the hostages, it was a bloody climax to a desperate three-day ordeal.
Correspondents said there appeared to be little preparation for the rescue operation that was needed.
A lack of ambulances meant private cars were used to ferry away the injured.
Firefighter in the ruins...
Frantic relatives hunted for their loved ones amid the confusion.
There was relief for some...
For others, desperately scanning lists of victims, the fate of their loved ones remains unknown.
And for others, there is no hope at all.
Why are the perpetrators of this atrocity not all dead?
"We will hunt the terrorists in every dark corner of the earth. We will be relentless."
GWB 2001
Thank you for all the pictures. This story is so horrifying. Those poor children and their families will never be the same.
Continued prayers for the victims of this atrocity by the Islamofascist terrorists.
Today we are all Russians.
TIMELINE Beyond Chechnya
Actions outside of Chechnya linked to the conflict.
June 14, 1995
Chechen gunmen take 2,000 hostages at a hospital in southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk, near Chechnya. After failed attempts at force, Russia negotiates the hostages' release in exchange for the gunmen's escape. More than 100 die.
Jan. 9, 1996
Chechen militants seize 3,000 hostages at a hospital in southern Russian town of Kizlyar. Rebels release most, then head for Chechnya with about 100 hostages. Rebels are stopped in a village and attacked by Russian troops. At least 78 die in weeklong fight.
Jan. 16, 1996
Six Turks and three Chechens hold 255 hostages on ferry in Black Sea, threatening to blow up ship if Russia doesn't halt battles in southern Russia. The rebels surrender after three days.
March 9, 1996
Turkish sympathizer hijacks jetliner flying out of Cyprus to draw attention to situation in Chechnya. The sympathizer surrenders after plane lands in Munich, Germany.
Sept. 4, 1999
Bomb destroys a building housing Russian military officers and families in Buinaksk in Russia's Dagestan region. Sixty-four die. Russian officials blame Chechen rebels, but never prove their involvement.
Sept. 9, 1999
Explosion wrecks a nine-story apartment building in southeast Moscow, killing almost 100. Authorities suspect a Chechen bomb, although no evidence is ever provided to support the claim.
Sept. 13, 1999
A bomb destroys an apartment building in southern Moscow, killing 70. Officials blame Chechens, but nobody is ever charged in the attack.
Sept. 16, 1999
Bombs shear off the front of a nine-story apartment building in Volgodonsk, 500 miles south of Moscow. Nearly 20 are killed. Authorities again blame Chechens rebels, but nobody is charged.
March 16, 2001
Three Chechens hijack a Russian airliner leaving Istanbul and divert it to Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces storm plane, killing one hijacker and two hostages.
April 22, 2001
Some 20 gunmen hold about 120 people for 12 hours at a hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, to protest Russian actions in Chechnya. The rebels later surrender to police and release the hostages.
May 4, 2002
Lone gunman holds 13 people hostage at a hotel in Istanbul to protest situation in Chechnya. The gunman surrenders after an hour.
Oct. 24, 2002
Chechen rebels seize 800 people in a Moscow theater. After a three-day standoff, Russian authorities launch a rescue attempt in which all 41 attackers are killed along with 127 hostages who succumb to a knockout gas used to incapacitate the assailants.
July 5, 2003
Double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert kills the female attackers and 15 other people.
July 10, 2003
A Russian security agent dies in Moscow while trying to defuse a bomb a woman had tried to carry into a cafe on central Moscows main street.
Aug. 1, 2003
50 people are killed in Mozdok, North Ossetia, when a truck bomb smashes through the gates of a hospital where Russian soldiers injured in Chechnya are treated.
Sept. 16, 2003
Two suicide bombers drive a truck laden with explosives into a government security services building near Chechnya, killing three people and injuring 25.
Dec. 5, 2003
Suicide bombing on commuter train in southern Russia kills 44 people. President Vladimir Putin condemns attack as bid to destabilize the country two days before parliamentary elections. Six people were killed in two blasts on the same railway line in September.
Dec. 9, 2003
Female suicide bomber blows herself up outside Moscows National Hotel, across from the Kremlin and Red Square, killing five bystanders.
Feb. 6, 2004
An explosion rips through a subway car in the Moscow metro during rush hour, killing 41 people.
June 21- 22, 2004
Chechen rebels kill at least 92 people, mostly law-enforcement officers and officials, while setting fire to police and government buildings around Nazran, the main city of the neighboring republic of Ingushetia.
Aug. 25, 2004
Chechen suicide bombers blamed for explosions that kill 90 people on board two Russian planes
I hope Putin destroys the scumbags who did this.
Hard as I try to not click on these stories today, I simply have to read them. And I always end up in tears, especially with the ones with photos. I can't help but think that this could have be right here, in my little town, or your little town, or.........
These pictures are breaking my heart. But, somehow, I'm glad you posted them. The world needs to remember this atrocity.
Shooting toddlers in the back for Islam.
I have been searching the news media and Web for ANY INDICATION OF OUTRAGE OR ACTION, HELP, ASSISTANCE to Putin from the ISLAMIC COMMUNITY OF COUNTRIES. Absolutely Nothing.
Islam. The World's Peacful religion.
What you said, Eggs. Posting through very bleary eyes. I pray for these people at this time of such terrible loss. I also pray the Russians join us and stand side by side against those who commit these acts. They must not be allowed to do this.
It is reported 460 killed and 600 wounded
http://www.gazeta.ru/2004/09/04/oa_132350.shtml
The Religion of Peace must enjoy seeing the dead children where you and I love to hear them giggling and playing in the schoolyards.
I think it's time to abolish The Religion of Peace from America!
This is not the time for a kinder, gentler, more "nuanced" war on terror. The only answer to people capable of doing this is to kill them before they kill us.
They are always silent. I hope Bush offers to help the Russians.
I still havent thought of a response cruel enough for these murdering demons. We are fighting too nice.
Click below to donate to the victims. They need it.
http://www.moscowhelp.org/
>>Arab leaders and Muslim clerics denounced the school seizure as unjustifiable and expressed their sympathy.
Heads of state from Egypt, Lebanon and Kuwait offered their sympathy Friday to Russian officials and to the families of people caught up in the hostage drama. A prominent Muslim cleric also denounced it.<<
They are thinking that revenge is very personal......for the victims. A squadron of Sukhoi-30's at 40 thousand feet is long gone before their bombs would strike the Islamic targets, sending Mohammed off to the barbecue.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1207163/posts?page=146#146
I keep wondering if the war on terror is really a war of attrition. Maybe if enough Islamic countries can refocus the education of young people, perhaps EVENTUALLY there will be a generational end to the murderers. Call me Pollyanna, I guess.
Today we are all Russians and children of Christ.
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