17 Sep 2004
Basayev Claims Responsibility for Beslan
School Hostage Siege
By VOA News
MOSCOW, RUSSIA: A Chechen rebel commander has claimed
responsibility for the school hostage siege in southern Russia earlier
this month, during which more than 320 hostages were killed, half of
them children.
In a statement posted on a Chechen rebel Web site, Shamil Basayev, one
of Russia's most wanted men, claims responsibility for the Beslan school
siege and for other terrorist attacks, including the downing of two
airplanes that occurred a week prior.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the rebel commander a
week ago of directing the Beslan school attack.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Mr. Basayev's claim
of responsibility shows that he is "inhuman."
Mr. Armitage told a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, Friday that
"anyone who would use innocence for political aims is not worthy of
existence in the type of societies we enjoy."
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced sweeping political changes
this week to deal with terrorism, including having the president name
regional governors rather than having them elected.
Wednesday, President Bush expressed concern the changes could undermine
democracy. -- Source:
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=8C14E8:2A97F9A
ERRI analysis by C. L. Staten: There would
appear to be some diverseness of opinion as to the involvement of
"foreign terror elements" in planning or financing the tragedy in
Beslan. The Kremlin seems to think that Al-Qaeda was involved in the
attack, while Shamil Basayev, a Chechen Muslim
responsible for several previous attacks, denies that there is "outside
involvement" in the seige. Basayev reportedly makes his claim on the
www.kavkazcenter.com website, which has contained similar terror claims
in the past.
Only one thing appears certain at this time. There would
appear to be a commonality in belief systems, as links are being drawn
between the radical Wahhabi sect of the Islamic religion and the wanton
murderers of Beslan. The entire matter, along
with ever-escalating rhetoric coming from Russian President Putin,
remains under investigation. EmergencyNet News will bring you additional
data as circumstances warrant...
Excerpted from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE
REPORT, Monday, September 06, 2004, Vol. 10, No. 249
Concerns Raised that Beslan Attack Signals Escalation in Violence
GERMANY/RUSSIA: According to a report from Der
Spiegel, early analyses of the German intelligence agencies and the
American CIA agree that an incredible escalation in terrorist attacks
has shown itself in the Beslan school in the Russian Republic of North
Osstien.
Until now, children have been substantially protected in all the attacks
of the international terrorist organizations. The increasing brutality
is now to be expected from the terrorists of the Al-Qaeda network, who
are certainly involved not only in Iraq, but also with the Chechen
rebels. It is reported that among the terrorists of Beslan were ten
Arabs. The Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reports that the hostage-taking
was financed by Abu Omar As-Sejf, an Arab representative of Al-Qaeda in
Chechnya.
According to CIA circles, a substantial number of Al-Qaeda activists
have infiltrated Iraq and are fighting in the ranks of the Iraqi
resistance. A similar phenomenon has been observed in Chechnya. A CIA
analyst said the country, like the entire North Caucasus region, was
being used as a test area to determine how far political decisions of
governments can be influenced through a gruesome campaign against the
civilian population. The Chechens want to force Russian President
Vladimir Putin to his knees. They intend for him to sign a treaty to
withdraw his soldiers from Chechnya.
The CIA agent recalled Spain, where Islamic terrorists directly
intervened in domestic Spanish politics by the March 11 attacks on the
suburban trains of Madrid, and caused a change of administration from
conservative to socialist. The latter recalled its soldiers from Iraq.
Al-Qaeda, which acknowledged [making] the attacks, achieved its
objective, that a western country withdraw from the Arabian sphere of
influence.
The president of the German intelligence service, August Hanning,
aroused attention last week by a public speech. Contrary to his usual
reticence, he made known that he fears a major Al-Qaeda attack in the
USA before the American presidential election in November. He said,
however, that an attack could also take place in a country allied with
the USA. Hanning said that Al-Qaeda had completely re-constituted
itself.
Excerpted from: ERRI DAILY
INTELLIGENCE REPORT, Sunday, September 05, 2004, Vol. 10, No. 248
President Putin Acknowledges Mistakes in Battle Against Chechens
BESLAN, RUSSIA: An apparently shaken President
Vladimir Putin made a rare and candid admission of Russian weakness
Saturday in the face of an "all-out war" by terrorists after more than
340 people - nearly half of them children - were killed in a
hostage-taking at a southern school. Putin went on national television
to tell Russians they must mobilize against terrorism, the Associated
Press reported. He promised wide-ranging reforms to "toughen security
forces" and "purge corruption."
"We showed weakness, and weak people are beaten," he said in a speech
aimed at addressing the grief, shock and anger felt by many after a
string of attacks that have killed some 450 people in the past two
weeks, apparently in connection with the war in Chechnya.
Shocked relatives wandered among row after row of bodies lined up in
black or clear plastic body bags on the pavement at a morgue in
Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, where the dead from the
school standoff in the town of Beslan were taken. In some open bags lay
the contorted, thin bodies of children, some monstrously charred. In
Beslan, people scoured lists of names to see if their loved ones
survived the chaos of the day before, when the standoff turned violent
Friday as militants set off explosives in the school and commandos moved
in to seize the building.
Beslan residents were allowed to enter the burned-out frame that was
once the gymnasium of School No. 1, where more than 1,000 hostages were
held during the 62-hour ordeal that started Wednesday. The gym's roof
was destroyed, windows shattered, walls pocked with bullet holes.
Regional Emergency Situations Minister Boris Dzgoyev said 323 people,
including 156 children, were killed. More than 540 people were wounded -
mostly children. Medical officials said 448 people, including 248
children, remained hospitalized Saturday evening.
Dzgoyev also said 35 attackers - heavily-armed and explosive-laden men
and women reportedly demanding independence for the Chechen republic -
were killed in 10 hours of battles that shook the area around the school
with gunfire and explosions.
03 Sep 2004 - 17:30 Beslan time
North Ossetia School Siege Ends in Hail of Gunfire,
Roar of Explosions
By VOA News
BESLAN, RUSSIA: Reports from southern Russia say dozens (or even
hundreds) of people have been killed in the school hostage crisis in the
town of Beslan.
Journalists say at least 100 bodies have been found in the gymnasium
where militants had been holding hundreds of hostages since Wednesday.
The Interfax news agency says some fatalities came after the roof
collapsed in the gymnasium where hundreds of hostages were held since
Wednesday.
The siege has ended in a hail of gunfire and the roar of explosions.
Russian commandos stormed the building in the town of Beslan Friday,
where militants demanding Chechen independence had been holding hundreds
of children and adults since Wednesday.
Journalists say about 13 militants escaped, pursued by
soldiers. Gunfire is also reported near a railway station and a house
where the gunmen are believed to have taken shelter. Helicopters are
hovering overhead. Investigation of the cause of death of the hostages
is underway. --
Source:
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=87B12A:2A97F9A
03 Sep 2004 - 13:50 Beslan time
Armed Soldiers Seen Rushing Into School at Hostage
Incident; Violent Conclusion May Be Underway
BESLAN, RUSSIA:
A major occurrence is apparently
underway at the three-day-old hostage/barricade situation in North
Ossetia. Live videotape from the scene shows numerous hostages
(including many children) being moved into a triage area where doctors
and nurses are waiting to treat them. It would appear that a substantial
number of them are wounded and that there may be fatalities at the
scene. The ITAR-Tass news agency said 160 children had been hurt in the
raid and five militants were killed, though the figures have not been
confirmed by official sources. These assault on the school began at
about 13:50 local time (05:50 EDT).
Witnesses said Special Forces troops and police special
units had entered the school, whose roof may have partially collapsed,
according to officials quoted by the Russian Interfax news agency.
Explosions and automatic gunfire has been heard coming from the vicinity
of the school for some period of time.
Exact casualty counts are not available at the time of
this report, and rescue operations and continued gunfire are ongoing.
Events at the scene are described as "chaotic and dynamic," by
witnesses. Few official details are currently being released by Russian
authorities. EmergencyNet News is monitoring events at the school
closely and we will bring you additional details if/when they become
available...
Analysis of Russian School Hostage
Incident
RUSSIA (Country threat level - 4): As reported earlier in the
regular edition of Hot Spots, on 3 September 2004, Russian military
forces stormed a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia, where students and
parents were held hostage since early on 1 September. Reports regarding
this incident are still emerging, and are likely to remain fluid over
the next several days. However, it is increasingly apparent that
significant casualties resulted from the situation and that the
estimated number of hostages was far higher than initially reported.
Russian security forces stormed the school
compound after the hostage-takers began firing on hostages who were
attempting to flee and set off explosions in the compound. During the
raid, some of the hostage-takers reportedly abandoned their uniforms and
attempted to flee the area in civilian clothes. Reports indicate that at
least some of the hostage takers took refuge inside a nearby residential
area. At latest report, Russian officials are claiming that all of the
hostage-takers have been accounted for, possibly including three that
are alive. Out of 20 identified hostage-takers killed, the head of the
Russian FSB stated that 10 of those were of Arab origin.
According to Russian officials, approximately 700 former hostages,
including some 250 children, were hospitalized. Initial reports
indicated that at least 100 people were killed during the hostage
situation, but now reports cite more than 200 deaths at the school and
indicate that hundreds more were injured. It remains unclear how many of
those were hostage-takers or hostages or how and when they were killed.
New estimates allow that nearly 1,200-1,500 people could have been held
hostage from the beginning of the incident as the school has
approximately 860 students whose parents and relatives were also in
attendance for traditional first-day ceremonies.
Clearly the situation involving terrorism in Russia remains very active
and confusing, and the series of terrorist incidents within the last 10
days is very worrying. At this point there is no direct evidence that
the series of events including the Beslan hostage situation, the Moscow
subway bombing on 31 August, and the two commercial airline bombings on
24 August are connected to the exact same organization. In contrast, it
is fairly clear that the perpetrators behind all three have coinciding
interests. This has serious implications for overall security in Russia,
including in urban environments. A pattern of increased targeting and
activity by these groups as a whole is emerging, and there is no
indication that these attacks will cease. This is more worrying than the
prospect of one active group, as it would indicate relatively unhindered
capabilities to plan, prepare and act by several groups.
There is no sign thus far that foreign companies are being targeted --
but as seen elsewhere -- the targeting of foreign interests in a company
is often done to create additional pressure on the targeted government.
As a result of this increased pattern of attacks and targeting, Air
Security is increasing its threat rating level for Russia to 4 (High).
Air Security continues to recommend that any aircraft remaining
overnight or unattended within Russia be designated two guards from a
known provider.
Source: Air Security International
Intelligence Division
Houston, TX
713-430-7300
E-mail: intelligence@airsecurity.com
http://www.airsecurity.com
Copyright (c) 2004 Air Security International. All Rights Reserved.
Contact them for a subscription.
02 Sep 2004
BREAKING NEWS
Small Number of Hostages Released; Siege Continues in North Ossetia
MOSCOW, RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to do all he
could to save hundreds of children, parents and teachers held under
threat of death by gunmen for a second day at a Russian school near
rebel Chechnya. In a small success for negotiators, Russian news
agencies said the armed gang released 26 children and women from among
the 350 or so hostages.
But the standoff continued with the gang of up to 40 men and women who
seized the school in the North Caucasus town of Beslan Wednesday
threatening to blow it up with their captives.
"Our main task is to save the life and health of those who have ended up
as hostages," Putin said in nationally televised comments. "All the
actions of our forces...will be devoted to solving this task," he said
at a Kremlin.
The hostage-taking in Beslan, a town of about 30,000 in the southern
region of North Ossetia, appeared to be the latest in a string of
attacks by insurgents from the nearby war-town republic of Chechnya.
Suspicion has fallen on Chechen rebels, although no specific claim of
responsibility has been made.
The militants' storming of the school came a day after a suspected
Chechen suicide bomber blew herself up outside a Moscow subway station,
killing nine people, and just over a week after 90 people died in two
plane crashes that are suspected to have been blown up by bombers also
linked to Chechnya.
Increasingly, Russians are suggesting links between international
terrorist groups and groups within Russia to explain the wave of
violence that has hit the country, beginning with the twin plane crashes
last week, the school today, and the suicide bomber yesterday at
Rizhskaya metro station in northern Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday "the link between
destructive elements, terrorists who are still active in Chechnya (and
international terrorism) has been proven once again" and that
investigators are probing a possible link between the al-Qaeda terrorist
network and Chechen separatists widely believed to have downed the two
Russian planes. Russian experts said yesterday that the timing of the
events, the sophistication of the planning and other factors point to
direction from abroad to local groups in Russia.
*****
Thursday, 02 September 2004
Analysis: Who Are The Hostage Takers In North Ossetia?
By Liz Fuller
With no end to the hostage taking at a school in North Ossetia in sight,
it is already clear that the incident is a landmark in Moscow's ongoing
struggle to preserve its control over the North Caucasus using force
under the guise of combatting "international terrorism." In hindsight,
the hostage taking may in a few years be seen as a turning point that
led to Moscow's defeat in that battle.
The modus operandi of the Beslan hostage takers is similar to that used
in the Moscow theater hostage taking in October 2002. The hostage takers
are masked, dressed in black, heavily armed, and include both men and a
handful of women. The latter are reportedly wearing explosives strapped
to their bodies in readiness to blow up the building. The hostage
takers' initial demands, reportedly conveyed by a small girl who was
allowed to leave the building, were twofold: the withdrawal of Russian
troops from Chechnya (which the Moscow hostage takers had also
demanded), and the release of the 27-30 militants arrested in Ingushetia
for their alleged participation in the 21-22 June multiple raids into
that republic in which up to 90 people, primarily Ingushetian Interior
Ministry personnel, were killed.
The Ingush raid in June was itself a milestone insofar as the attackers
included not only Chechens but many young Ingush youths who, alienated
by the abduction of close relatives by the Ingushetian security forces,
had flocked to fight under radical Chechen field commander Shamil
Basaev.The hostage takers' initial demands, reportedly, were twofold:
the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and the release of the
27-30 militants arrested in Ingushetia after the 21-22 June multiple
raids there.
Basaev claimed responsibility for the October 2002 Moscow theater
hostage taking after it occurred, and is widely believed to have
masterminded, if not actually directed in person, the June raids into
Ingushetia. But www.kavkazcenter.com, which is sympathetic to Basaev,
carried on 1 September a denial that he is in any way connected to the
events in Beslan. If one lends credence to that denial, then one logical
conclusion is that the Beslan perpetrators may have served under Basaev
and tapped his tactical expertise, then staged the Beslan raid
independently.
Reuters on 2 September quoted North Ossetian Interior Minister Kazbek
Dzantiev as saying that the Beslan hostage takers include both Ingush
and Chechens, and that "they speak good Russian." Kavkazcenter.com, for
its part, quoted Dzantiev as saying that there are also Ossetians and
Russians among the militants. That Ossetians, who in contrast to all
other North Caucasus ethnic groups are Christian, not Muslim, and who
have traditionally supported Russia ever since their territory was
voluntarily incorporated into the Tsarist Empire in 1774, should make
common cause with the Ingush is surprising; that some Russians should
join them is, at first glance, doubly so. But that solidarity could well
be the product of shared despair at the poverty and corruption that, to
varying degrees, bedevils all the North Caucasus republics. Such broad
based rejection of Russia's policies towards the North Caucasus calls
into question President Vladimir Putin's repeated assertions that
Islamic fundamentalism and Chechnya-based groups with links to Al-Qaeda
are behind the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Russia. Valerii
Andreev, head of the North Ossetian branch of Russia's Federal Security
Service, dismissed the hostage takers' ethnicity on 2 September as
irrelevant.
The Beslan hostage taking does, however, substantiate the argument
adduced repeatedly by both Putin and pro-Moscow Chechen leaders that
there is no point in engaging in peace talks with Chechen President
Aslan Maskhadov because he does not control most of the militants
fighting in Chechnya. It may not be coincidental that the Beslan attack
came just weeks after Russian politician Arkadii Volskii called for
talks with Maskhadov and offered to play mediator. The Moscow theater
hostage taking two years ago similarly followed a mediation bid by
Russian politicians, including former Security Council Secretary Ivan
Rybkin.
Just three days before the Beslan hostage taking, British Chechnya
expert Thomas de Waal remarked in an editorial pegged to the 29 August
ballot to elect a successor to slain pro-Moscow Chechen leader
Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov that "Five years ago, when Moscow launched an
'antiterrorist operation' to recapture Chechnya, there was no real
terrorism there. Now, thanks mainly to Moscow's policies, it is becoming
a real threat." What is more, that threat is already no longer confined
to Chechnya nor, apparently, is it coordinated by a single person or
group. That escalation will make it all the more difficult to contain,
let alone eradicate, using the methods that Russia has relied on to
date.
Source: RFE/RL -- http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/09/7898e9d4-9756-4010-b2a0-7ea30380edbe.html
01 Sep 2004
Suspected Chechen Insurgents Take School Hostage in
North Ossetia
MOSCOW, RUSSIA: According to the Cable News Network
(CNN) and
several Russian news agencies, seven people have been killed as armed
attackers seized a school in southern Russia and took at least 100
people hostage, Russian authorities said. Emergency officials told
Russia's Interfax news agency that one attacker and two civilians were
killed and nine people wounded in the Wednesday morning attack. Many of
the hostages are small children.
There were at least 15 armed attackers, Russia's Federal Security
Service (FSB) said. Some were reportedly wearing explosives belts
similar to those used in suicide bombings. Interfax said there was
shooting at the time of the attack as well as afterward.
The incident began as the insurgents burst into the
secondary school in Beslan at around 09:30 local time (05:30GMT). Beslan,
the location of the stand-off, is a town 15km (10 miles) north of
Vladikavkaz, capital of the North Ossetia republic, which borders
Chechnya. The incident continues at the time of this report and Russian
anti-terrorism forces are surrounding the hostage-takers and attempting
to negotiate the release of the children.
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