Posted on 02/19/2005 10:35:23 PM PST by jb6
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) - A small group of suspected Islamic militants were barricaded inside an apartment house in southern Russia Saturday in a standoff with hundreds of security forces who evacuated neighbouring buildings and cut off gas supplies.
The suspects were holed up inside a second floor apartment in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkariya region, in the latest in a series of confrontations between law enforcement authorities and extremists in the volatile North Caucasus region, which includes Chechnya.
Last month, security forces killed seven alleged Islamic extremists in the same city in a two-day battle with members of the Yarmuk group, a radical Islamic group affiliated with Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev. The Interior Ministry said the alleged militants in Saturday's standoff also were members of Yarmuk.
At least three suspects were inside the apartment, according to a duty officer at the southern district office of the Interior Ministry.
Two armoured personnel carriers and more than 300 gun-toting riot police were at the scene, and security forces evacuated residents from surrounding buildings and cut off natural gas flows in the neighbourhood.
The Interior Ministry officer said the suspects were believed to be lightly armed and discussions aimed at their surrender were under way. Russia's NTV television reported, however, that the suspects were refusing to negotiate and the situation had remained unchanged for hours.
The Yarmuk group was blamed in a December 2004 attack on an office belonging to the Federal Drug Control in Nalchik, when raiders killed four of the agency's employees, looted its arsenal and set the office ablaze.
Russia's southern provinces have been plagued by a spillover of violence from Chechnya, including the September school hostage-taking in the city of Beslan in which some 330 people were killed.
Just kill'em.
I hope they capture them and let em loose in an angry Moscow crowd. Be kind. Let the old ladies get the first stoning...
Burn the building down.
Burn it down? with them inside? That's mean!
How about burning the building from the top floor down, floor by floor. Give them some oxygen tanks so they can survive until they cripsy critters.
The Ruskies tend not to F*** around.
How about burning the building from the top floor down, floor by floor. Give them some oxygen tanks so they can survive until they crispy critters.
Crispy critters works for me. In fact, I wouldn't mind dropping a few nukes in the ME and having a whole bunch of crispy critters. See, I REALLY am a meanie when it comes to them. LOL
I think nuking is to nice! But is sure gets alot of bang for your $$! :)
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