Posted on 10/13/2005 4:53:31 AM PDT by fishhound
Edited on 10/13/2005 8:31:53 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
Civilians are believed to be among 60 people killed in clashes between police and rebels in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, say Russian media reports. Civilians are feared to be among 60 people killed in clashes between police and gunmen in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, say Russian media reports.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Nalchik city in Kabardino-Balkaria province to be sealed off and for forces to shoot any armed resisters.
Officials say armoured vehicles and troops have been deployed and the situation is returning to normal.
Militants from nearby Chechnya are believed to be behind the attacks.
A pro-rebel website said it had received information from rebel sources that a unit of Chechen armed forces had entered Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria.
'All-out attack'
A school and the city's airport, as well as government buildings, were caught up in the running gun-battles.
The BBC's Emma Simpson in Moscow says this appears to have been an all-out attack on Nalchik's law enforcement and security services.
Black smoke billowed across the city
Fighting broke out in the Belaya Rechka area early on Thursday and spread to several parts of the city.
A local Interior Ministry source told Itar-Tass that rebels launched a "carefully planned" simultaneous attack on police stations, Russia's federal security forces, military and drugs-control offices as well as the airport.
One unidentified security official has told Russian news agency Ria that the reason for the attack was the arrest on Wednesday of at least one radical extremist.
Correspondents say violence in Kabardino-Balkaria has been steadily increasing.
Political changes and a harsh crackdown on alleged Islamic militants appear to have pushed the region to the verge of instability, the BBC's regional analyst Steven Eke says.
'Eliminated'
Russian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said Mr Putin ordered the city to be completely sealed off to ensure not a single fighter could escape.
"Those who resist will be eliminated," he said.
He was also quoted as saying he knew of no civilians killed in the fighting.
A witness told the BBC she had seen the bodies of gunmen, soldiers and civilians in the streets. Earlier, regional President Arsen Kanokov said 12 civilians had died.
A third of the 150 rebels who took part in attacks had been killed, he told Itar-Tass news agency.
Five police officers had also died, Mr Putin's special envoy to the area, Dmitry Kozak, told Russian television.
He also said the gunmen had stormed one police station and taken hostages.
But officials quoted by Itar-Tass said they were later freed, although there were no details.
Mr Kozak said that overall the city was under control.
Website claim
The pro-rebel Kavkaz Center website said that a detachment of the Chechen-linked Kabardino-Balkaria jamaat, called Yarmuk, had entered Nalchik.
The use of the word jamaat indicates that it is made up of radical Islamic fighters.
The attacks are the latest in a series of disturbances that have been destabilising Russia's North Caucasus region for more than a year.
Correspondents say Nalchik is about 100 km (60 miles) north-west of Beslan, where Chechen rebels took hundreds of hostages at a school in 2004, in an attack claimed by warlord Shamil Basayev.
Our analyst says that after last year's Beslan massacre the government promised more money and support for the impoverished North Caucasus - but nothing has changed.
Ditto... But a modification of this type of attack is unfortunately likely to be in their game plan against the US, with a military-style attack in force against schools, hospitals, malls, houses and apartments, and other less- or unguarded 'targets'. The barbarians have done it in Russia, they've done it in Saudi Arabia, they've done it in Israel, and they are almost certainly planning to do it here.
French intelligence also helped Saddam during the early days of the war. I don't trust the Russians, the French, the Belgians, the Germans (under Schroeder), the Chinese or the Spanish. All socialist/commies.
It's obviously America's fault for provoking them by daring to exist.
Those pesky militants...good thing they aren't Muslim or Russia would have a serious problem.
Actually it's a good thing. Better that China get their oil there than from (and spread their influence even more to) say Venezuela.
They did that. The result was an enemy country on their border and frequent attacks such as the one today.
Me too yet as a Texan my state has allowed me to take "better" care of me and mine with the CHL process..... a 1911A1 vs 911 immediate action drill per se.
Because Russia hasn't decided to side fully enough with us on Iran or Syria I suspect.
Just a guess on my part, and that isn't worth much.
Stay armed...stay safe...stay free!
Probaly for the same reason our glorious leaders still support the muzzies in Kosovo as they commit genocide against Christians.
Our government, i.e. the Bush administration, will be blamed for the next terror attack/attacks. They have failed us miserably by allowing our borders to remain open, allowing thousands of terrorists to enter the country illegally. It only took 14 terrorists to kill over 3000 people.
because Putin is doing what Russia did during WWII... prior to starting the big event Russia was conducting secret negotiations with Hitler while keeping its options open with the Western Powers... it's a case of cya from every angle. It's a Russian thing
I wouldn't put it in quite those words, but I wonder if Brilliant isn't acting as Russia's agent here. What he says has no factual basis.
The U.S. has not supported Chechnya since 9/11, and it doesn't seem to me that Bush did so earlier, either. It was more a policy of benign neglect while he dealt with the problem of making administrative appointments delayed by the Chad wars.
That was clinton who supported Chechnya, him and his left wing pals in the media.
Bush has made every effort to work with Russia, but in the past year or so Putin has behaved very disagreeably toward America and has persisted in cozying up to our mutual enemies. Supplying nuclear materials to Iran is only part of the trouble.
I say that with regret, because I think the U.S. and Russia should be natural allies against the Muslims and China. But there's no point in obfuscating the facts. Instead, we need to correct matters and get back on track.
It's about time he makes up his mind. Time is running short. The Nort Caucasus is a knot of vipers and it's getting worse and worse. Unemployment amongst the young people is rampant. They are flocking to join the terrorists just for $500. A no-return point may come when the Big Caucasian war is inevitable and the terrorism will spread around Russia like cancer. Putin will go down in History as the man who missed that point.
The US must firmly and resolutely ally itself with our Russian allies.
NOW!
I'm sure that is part of the logic, but it's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we poke them in the eye, they are going to poke us in the eye.
Or, to put it more succinctly, our current policy of poking them in the eye doesn't seem to be working.
Because large numbers of Russians were relocated to this area under Stalin( I believe it was Stalin). These Russinas do not want these areas to break away.
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