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Russian Commandos Raid School, Hostages Freed
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Hostages inside the school were reportedly released
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BESLAN,
Russia
, September 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Special
Russian forces stormed and controlled a Russian school Friday,
September 3, amid reports that all hostages trapped inside by
kidnappers were released.
"All
hostages inside the school were released," said the correspondent
of Al-Jazeera on air.
But
he added that crackle of fire still echoes through the air near the
school, where armed men and women, some strapped with explosives,
broke into a school in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia Wednesday,
September 1, and herded pupils, parents and teachers into a gym.
Russian
television network NTV reported that five of the hostage-takers had
been killed and security officials on the scene and in
Moscow
said special forces had taken control of the entire building.
An
official with the local interior ministry quoted by Agence
France-Presse (AFP) as saying "most" of the children who
escaped first were alive, but admitted that some were also hurt.
Russian
media quoting local officials said 160 people were wounded after the
storming of the school.
Eyewitnesses
quoted by Russian news agencies said some of the hostage-takers
attempted to flee with the escaping children and were immediately
fired upon by special forces around the building.
Russian
special forces are looking for 13 abductors after they stormed the
school, ITAR-TASS reported, citing the regional interior ministry.
Mayhem
Interfax
news agency, quoting the local crisis cell, said the roof of the
southern Russian school collapsed during the operation, and nearly an
hour after the violence erupted sporadic shooting continued.
A
number of children, some of them bleeding, were carried by adults who
ran and whisked them into cars waiting nearby while special forces
troops backed by armored vehicles provided cover for them.
ITAR-TASS
news agency reported about 90 minutes after the violence erupted that
the entire school was under the control of the special forces.
Officials
said before the shooting broke out that they were not for the moment
contemplating use of force to end the standoff and it was unclear how
the violence began Friday.
Only
minutes before the bloody operation went under war, the President of
Northern Ossentia state, scene of the school crisis, told the families
of hostages that military solutions for the crisis were ruled out by
Moscow, at that stage.
Independent
Chechnya
Hell
broke out, however, only minutes later, after the senior regional
politician told the concerned family members that the hostage-takers
had demanded independence for
Chechnya
.
"The
demands relayed yesterday to Aushev were that
Chechnya
has to be an independent state,
Chechnya
has to be outside
Russia
," Alexander Dzasokhov, the president of
North Ossetia
, told families in a private meeting.
He
was referring to Ruslan Aushev, a respected regional politician who
led negotiations Thursday, September 2, on the crisis, now in its
third day.
Some
Russian analysts said the kidnappers could not be Chechen separatists.
"They
could be criminals who had served terms in
Ossetia
, which also suffering under the yoke of rising unemployment," a
Russian general told Al-Jazeera.
The
Russian government is reportedly gaining for quickly pointing the
finger at fighters from
Chechnya
, a breakaway predominatly-Muslim region where Russian forces faced
repeated public calls to withdraw.
Blaming
Chechen fighters does serve
Moscow
to paint Chechen fighters – putting up fierce resistance to Russian
soldiers in
Chechnya
– as terrorists who should be crushed out.
Moscow
has refused to withdraw from
Chechnya
, as human rights groups have accused Russian soldiers of committing
aggressions and abuses in the republic during the two massive
invasions.
Russia
asked the UN Security Council for a meeting on the crisis Wednesday.
The world body issued a tough condemnation and demanded the immediate
release of the hostages.
Chechnya
has been ravaged by conflict since 1994, with just three years of
relative peace after the first Russian invasion of the region ended in
August 1996 and the second began in October 1999.
At
least 100,000 civilians and 10,000 Russian troops are estimated to
have been killed in both invasions, but human rights groups have said
the real numbers could be much higher.
International
human rights watchdogs said in a joint
statement released in April that rape, torture and
extrajudicial executions by Russian troops have become everyday
occurrences in
Chechnya
.
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