September 1, 200421 yr THREE people have been killed after group of armed suicide-bombers seized a school in Russia and threatened to blow up 200 student hostages. The seizure took place on the first day of the Russian school year, when a large number of parents had accompanied their children to class. Reports said the raid took place just after a ceremony marking the school year's start, when the attackers drove up in a covered truck of the type often used for troop transport. Gunfire broke out after the raid and at least three teachers and two police officers were wounded, said Andrei Polyansky, a police spokesman for southern Russia. Three people have also been killed, authorities said. "One of the bodies is lying in front of the school building. Another two are on a road near the entrance," a North Ossetian interior ministry official said. A regional police official said the hostages had been herded into the school gymnasium. The school is in the city of Beslan, about 15km north of Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, a republic that borders warring Chechnya. The seizure has happened on the first day of the Russian school year, when it is likely a large number of parents have accompanied their children to class. Sergei Vlasov, a spokesman for Moscow's Emergency Situations Ministry, confirmed the seizure. Local authorities said about 200 students and 40 parents were taken hostage in the raid. The Interfax news agency, citing Ismel Shaov, a regional spokesman for the Federal Security Service, said there were 17 attackers, both male and female, and the gang included some who were wearing suicide-bomb belts. The attackers warned they would blow up the school if police tried to storm it and demanded talks with regional officials and a well-known pediatrician, Leonid Roshal, who had aided hostages during the seizure of a Moscow theatre in 2002, news reports said. The Interfax news agency reported that the hostage-takers released a woman who carried out a note with their demands. But the demands have not been made public. In footage from outside the school on television channel NTV, men in camouflage uniforms with heavy-calibre machine guns took up positions on the perimeter and other men in civilian dress with light automatic rifles paced nervously. At one point, a girl of about age 7 in a floral print dress and a red bow in her hair streaked around a corner apparently after fleeing from the school, followed by an older woman. In 1995, Chechen rebels led by warlord Shamil Basayev seized a hospital in the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk, taking some 2000 people hostage. The six-day standoff ended with a fierce Russian police assault. Some 100 people died in the incident. The seizure came as terrorism fears in Russia have risen markedly, following a suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway station that killed 10 people and injured more than 50 and last week's near-simultaneous crashes of two Russian airliners, killing a total of 90 people, that officials say were terrorist bombings. The attacks bracketed presidential elections in Chechnya, a Kremlin-baked move aimed at undermining support for the insurgents by establishing a modicum of civil order in the war-shattered republic. Fears that the Chechen rebels aimed to export their fight outside the small republic's borders rose in June after insurgents launched a coordinated series of attacks on police facilities in neighboring Ingushetia, in which more than 90 people were killed. In a videotape released several days after the attack, a man appearing to be Basayev claimed responsibility for the assaults and said his fighters had seized huge quantities of arms from police arsenals.
September 1, 200421 yr Hopefully they dont try to use gas like they did in that theater when they killed everybody.
September 1, 200421 yr The rebels are going to regret screwing with the Russians like this. Things like the "constitution" and "civil rights" don't hold much water there...
September 1, 200421 yr WOW!!! I can't imagine the people backing this type of movement by the rebels! I mean, sheesh, this is taking it WAY too far! How can you possibly get sympathy for your "cause" when you make your main target kids??? f***ing assholes. I say once they get the kids out, just for a move like this, the Russians should take out ANYBODY even thought to be associated with these assclowns. This is a whole new territory of ass. :fyou
September 1, 200421 yr What the f*** will killing kids gain this idiots? f***, this world has truly gone to hell...
September 1, 200421 yr Just wondering out loud...(not making accusations)...are these terrorists Muslims?
September 1, 200421 yr Just wondering out loud...(not making accusations)...are these terrorists Muslims? They're Chechens (sp).
September 1, 200421 yr They're Chechens (sp). Yep. Chechnya is a majority Islamic republic that the Russians have been tangling with for the better part of a decade now. Think Fallujah but on a larger scale.
September 1, 200421 yr The Russians have just asked for....dum dum dummmmmm... UN intervention. details to follow....
September 1, 200421 yr The Russians have just asked for....dum dum dummmmmm... UN intervention. details to follow.... NOW THAT WILL SOLVE IT. :headshake
September 1, 200421 yr The Russians have just asked for....dum dum dummmmmm... UN intervention. details to follow.... Is their military in such bad shape that they can't handle an in-house problem like this on their own? Wow, how far the mighty have fallen. Next thing ya know they'll be asking for U.S. troops to help out.
September 1, 200421 yr they should bring in the isreali mossad to take care of the situation. That's like killing a cockroach with sledge hammer. LOL!
September 1, 200421 yr That's like killing a cockroach with sledge hammer. LOL! and what is your point
September 1, 200421 yr Yep. Chechnya is a majority Islamic republic that the Russians have been tangling with for the better part of a decade now. Think Fallujah but on a larger scale. So, again, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, but, when I said that Muslims were responsible for 99+% of the world's terrorism, and was "pounded" for saying that...does anyone want to dispute that claim again?
September 1, 200421 yr So, again, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, but, when I said that Muslims were responsible for 99+% of the world's terrorism, and was "pounded" for saying that...does anyone want to dispute that claim again? i am usually on your side on this politics talk. but let me get this straight, only a couple of posters took to the shed, so to speak. what you were pounded on most of the time was your bashing posters and not sticking to the facts of the argument. think about this, who would benefit from a "i told you so" statement? peace
September 1, 200421 yr So, again, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, but, when I said that Muslims were responsible for 99+% of the world's terrorism, and was "pounded" for saying that...does anyone want to dispute that claim again? Why do you like to make up figures in your head. 99%. Well I4E lets take a look at american terrorism over the last 10 years. No if i'm wrong call me on it, but i remember oklahoma city, and waco, and columbine, and i think they were all christian. Muslims represent over 1/5th of the worlds population, so yes they will account for at least 1/5th of the terrorist acts. I think if you did some research you would find that terrorist acts come from every religion. An example would be liberation theology in south america. It is not supported by the catholic church, yet their members commit terrorist acts for religious gain. So please stop attacking the islamic people as a whole, without first looking at the facts
September 3, 200421 yr Author Time to bump this thread, THE school siege in southern Russia has reached a bloody and terrifying climax, with hostages fleeing as explosions and continuous gunfire rings out in the town of Beslan. Reports from the scene say at least part of the roof of a building has collapsed and gunmen holding the hostages tried to break out through crowds of relatives nearby. The Interfax newsagency's reported that security forces fired on the gunmen while the Tass newsagency says troops have entered the school building itself. A group of children stripped to their underwear have been seen on TV footage fleeing the scene. At least one bleeding, unconscious child was carried away on a stretcher. Earlier conflicting reports have put the number of hostages held over the past few days as between several hundred and 1500.
September 3, 200421 yr Author http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...hool_seizure_53 I just heard on the news bout 45 mins ago, that there were 100 charred bodies inside the gymnasium, so expect the number of deaths to rise significantly. Putin the Russian President, ordered his troops in after 2 days of stand offs I believe.
September 3, 200421 yr That is so sad. What could they have thought they were going to accomplish by killing children, or anyone for that matter? Edited September 3, 200421 yr by Queen Prawn
September 3, 200421 yr damn, i hope they manage to capture a terrorist alive. then they can do what ever they need to do to get the other who escaped.
September 3, 200421 yr damn, i hope they manage to capture a terrorist alive. then they can do what ever they need to do to get the other who escaped. Get the torture chamber ready, someone's gonna get messed up bad if they get one alive.
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