News & Politics - Attackers storm Russian school

StellaSlight · 09-01-2004, 10:02 AM

Quote:

More than 200 pupils and some parents and teachers are being held hostage in southern Russia after a school was seized by masked and armed attackers.

At least 17 men and women, some wearing explosive belts, entered the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, officials said.

They are believed to have laid mines and trip wires, threatening to blow up the school if stormed by police.

According to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency they are demanding the withdrawal of troops from Chechnya.

They are also reported to have demanded talks with local politicians and a negotiator involved at the time of the siege of a Moscow theatre in 2002.

There are no confirmed casualty figures, although reports from the scene suggest a number of people have been killed.

The incident comes amid heightened security in Russia after a suspected suicide bomb attack in Moscow on Tuesday night and the bombing of two passenger planes last week.

New school term

Wednesday was the first day back for millions of children across Russia and parents also attend what is traditionally a day of celebration.

The attackers reportedly stormed the secondary school in Beslan at around 0930 local time (0530GMT), shortly after a ceremony welcoming in the new school year.

They are believed to have been moved by the hostage-takers to the school gym. Up to 50 children managed to escape during the move, according to reports.

Russian security forces and police troops were surrounding the building in Beslan, a town 15kms (10 miles) north of Vladikavkaz, capital of the North Ossetia republic, which borders Chechnya.

Gunfire and explosions could be heard in the area.

Itar-Tass said a regional Muslim community leader was brought in to negotiate, but the hostage-takers refused to talk to him saying they would only deal with top officials.

Putin under pressure

Russian President Vladimir Putin broke off a working holiday on the Black Sea to return to Moscow following the school siege.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Moscow says the president now has a major crisis on his hands, and will be under pressure to bring the stand-off to a peaceful conclusion.

It was not immediately clear who the gunmen are, but correspondents say suspicion will fall on Chechen rebels.

Rebels' hostage history

A female suicide bomber is being blamed for an explosion outside a train station in north Moscow on Tuesday, which killed at least 10 people and injured more than 50.

An Islamist group, calling itself the Islambouli Brigades, claimed responsibility and described the attack as "part of the wave of support and assistance to the Muslim Chechens".

Two weeks ago, more than 200 Chechen rebels launched a co-ordinated attack inside Chechnya, on the capital Grozny.

And two months ago armed rebels mounted a deadly cross-border raid into Ingushetia.

Katis · 09-01-2004, 11:50 AM

What kind of bastards take children hostage? I mean it's bad enough that they take anyone hostage, but to target a school, specifically going after children is really depraved. Hopefully this will come to a good conclusion...

*Ledi* · 09-01-2004, 12:22 PM

I have no words for those kind of people.

migamoo · 09-01-2004, 03:25 PM

I don't see why Russia just won't let Chechnya be. They want to be their own country and this whole "war" has been going on for decades, but it's gotten a lot worse in the past decade or two. (I had to do a paper on this subject my senior year of high school). And now I'm not claiming what they have done now is a good thing, nor the right way to go about things, but they feel they need to go the extreme to get what they want. If Russia wants this to stop, just let them be.

StellaSlight · 09-01-2004, 05:20 PM

I hope this will come to a good conclusion too, but if one considered the ugly methods the Russian government is willing to use to kill the terrorists, I kinda fear for the hostages. Last time the Russian special forces took action, their gas killed 129 hostages in the theater where they were held by the terrorists.

Quote:

Originally posted by Fieryangel
I don't see why Russia just won't let Chechnya be.

I guess Russia has the same love/hate relationship with Chechnya than the Serbs had with the Kosovars. They don't regard the Chechen people very high because of their different religion, but don't want to let go of their territory, which is a part of their culture, history and wealth.

Charlize'sAngel · 09-02-2004, 03:25 PM

It's really sad that innocent children have to be caught in the middle of this.

CrabbyCancer69 · 09-02-2004, 05:08 PM

I saw this on MSNBC yesterday and they were showing the terrorists dragging and pulling the little kids around

this world is crazy!

Semmer · 09-03-2004, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Charlize'sAngel
It's really sad that innocent children have to be caught in the middle of this.

I know. It's hard to imagine that there are people like this in the world. This is something that it seems like you would only see in a movie. But give Hollywood a year and this will be a blockbluster, because that's how they work.

Cail · 09-03-2004, 05:25 AM

I want to be optimistic about this turning out OK, but considering how things have been handled in the past, I can't help but think this will end very, very badly.

girl in a cardigan · 09-03-2004, 07:53 AM

Are they still being held? Has there been any update?

StellaSlight · 09-03-2004, 08:08 AM

The situation hasn't improved yet, although a small number of children were released earlier.

Quote:

Russia siege goes into third day

Very young children were among those released on Thursday
Russian negotiators have renewed talks with the armed group holding hundreds of hostages in a North Ossetian school, as the siege enters its third day.

Correspondents say sporadic explosions and gunfire continue to be heard near the school in the town of Beslan.

Thursday saw the release of 26 women and young children, but the hostage takers still refused to allow food, water and medicine into the building.

One of the freed women said there were more than 1,000 hostages in the school.

"You know there are not 300 people in there, but altogether 1,500. People are lying on top of each other," 27-year-old Zalina Dzandarova told the Kommersant newspaper.

Officials put the number of hostages at 354 before Thursday's release, although the school has more than 1,000 pupils.

The attackers - both men and women, some wearing bomb belts - struck on Wednesday, the first day of the new school year in Russia.

Many parents and other relatives were inside the school, helping their children celebrate the new year, when the assault began.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford, who is at the scene, says the situation remains tense.

The authorities say at least 12 people, including one attacker, have been killed since the building was seized.

Hundreds of relatives of those being held inside the school are waiting anxiously outside the security cordon.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that everything would be done to save the lives of the hostages.

Demands unclear

The hostage-takers' exact demands are unclear, but they are said to be calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and the release of Chechen rebels held in Ingushetia.

The Russian authorities are blaming what they call international terrorism, with suspicion falling on Chechen separatists who have been fighting for independence from Moscow for the past decade.

Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has denied that his forces are involved in the siege.

The school crisis came a day after a suspected suicide bombing in Moscow killed 10 people. Last week, the mid-air explosions of two passenger planes left 89 dead.

Conditions inside the school

The people released on Thursday provided the first details of conditions inside the school, saying the hostages were all being held in the gymnasium, but the men had been separated from the women and children.

The gunmen are said to be treating the children reasonably well.

One man who has been helping to conduct negotiations, prominent paediatrician Lev Roshal, called this first hostage release a major victory.

But Mr Roshal, who helped to negotiate the release of children during the siege of a Moscow theatre in 2002, warned it was still a drop in the ocean, and that a huge amount of work remained to be done.

Officials said the release of the 26 people came after mediation efforts by the former President of the neighbouring region of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev.

In his first public comments on the crisis, more than 24 hours after it began, President Putin said: "Our main task is, of course, to save the lives and health of those who became hostages.

"All actions of our forces working on the hostages' release will be devoted and be subject to this task exclusively."

1 - Main entrance
2 - Area where gunfire began
3 - Hostages are being held in the school gym, which has reportedly been packed with explosives and mines
4 - Side entrance
5 - There have been reports of children being used as human shields at the back windows
6 - As the attack began a number of people hid in the boiler room and later escaped

charmedoholic · 09-03-2004, 09:13 AM

The military are going in right NOW!!! Around 50 or so people were just released.....the children were naked except for underwear! It was soooo upsetting to watch! It's horrible!!!! And the kids had like red marks and bruises on their arms and back. They were denied water!! There are gun shot and explosion noises in the background....watch this space...

Butterflyz · 09-03-2004, 09:17 AM

Disgusting. Completely and utterly disgusting, it's a school for *****s sake. I'm watching this whole showdown on TV and am (in case you hadn't guessed) completely disgusted. I hope they get what they deserve. CHILDREN.

Anabela · 09-03-2004, 09:18 AM

Ten minutes ago, russian commandos entered the school. I'm still not sure what happened but it doesn't sound good to me.

I found this on Yahoo:

Quote:

Gunfire at Russian School; Hostages Flee

9 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Heavy gunfire broke out at a school where militants were holding hundreds of people hostage Friday, after three powerful explosions hit the area and about 30 hostages fled.

The Interfax news agency said Russian commandos had stormed the school. Soldiers shepherded children away, several of them wounded and on stretchers. Many of the children were only partly clothed because of the stifling heat in the gymnasium where they had been held since the militants took the building Wednesday.

Interfax said that the school's roof had collapsed — possibly from the explosives some militants had strapped to their bodies. It had earlier reported that a group of about 30 women and children broke out of the school, after massive explosions and gunfire were heard. Two helicopters hovered overhead.

On Thursday, the militants had freed about 26 hostages, all women and children, and Russian officials had been in negotiations with the militants since they had seized the building Wednesday.

There were conflicting reports of the number of hostages, with official saying about 350 and people among a small group freed on Wednesday saying there were about 1,500.

Butterflyz · 09-03-2004, 09:26 AM

Did the roof actually collapse? Have they confirmed that?


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