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September 4, 2004, Scotsman BLOOD OF BESLAN'S INNOCENTS Gethin Chamberlain, Diplomatic Correspondent THE Russian school siege reached a catastrophic climax yesterday as terrorists carried out their threat to blow up the building, killing at least 200 people and injuring more than 700. A series of explosions marked the beginning of the end. Russian special forces stormed the building and fought pitched gun battles with the terrorists who had taken over the school in the Caucasian town of Beslan. Explosives had been packed around children herded into the gym: one report said that bombs hung in basketball hoops in the hall exploded; another said that a female suicide bomber blew herself up. The roof came down, fires started. Bodies lay charred and burned beneath the debris and children in their underwear fled from the building as gunfire crackled around them. Smoke poured from the wrecked building. More than 100 bodies were said to be lying in the gym while outside the bodies of more dead children lay on stretchers. Mothers held them and wept. The death toll rose and rose; by last night it had reached more than 200. Officials warned it would go much higher. There were reports that some children were still being held hostage as security forces pursued the remaining terrorists. Last night, Russia pointed the finger of blame at Chechen and Arab terrorists with links to al-Qaeda. Valery Andreyev, the head of the local branch of the intelligence service, FSB, said 20 hostage-takers were killed, ten of them from Arab countries. President Vladimir Putin's adviser on Chechnya, Aslanbek Aslakhanov, also said a number of the dead terrorists were Arab mercenaries. The regional interior ministry claimed that the school seizure had been planned by Shamil Basayev, Russia's most- wanted Chechen rebel, and was led by field commander Magomet Yevloyev. It said there was information that the operation had been financed by Abu Omar As-Seyf, believed to be al-Qaeda's representative in Chechnya. Earlier estimates of the number of hostages were rapidly revised as the casualty figures rose. As many as 1,200 people were said to have been inside the school, 70 per cent of them children, far in excess of the original estimate of 350. Emergency officials said 704 people were taken to hospital, including 229 children, while a regional security official said 332 children were among the wounded. Russian television reported that three of the gunmen were captured as they attempted to escape from the school in civilian dress. Four of the terrorists were still being sought last night. Earlier, Russian officials had said three of the hostage-takers were blockaded in the basement, trading fire with troops. The Queen sent a personal message of condolence to the victims of the Russian school siege catastrophe, speaking of her "profound shock." Tony Blair condemned the "inhumanity" of the terrorists. The head of the UN children's agency denounced the hostage-taking of youngsters as "a new and discouraging low". The terrorists seized the school in North Ossetia on Wednesday, a day after a suicide bomb outside a Moscow subway station killed at least nine people, and just over a week after two Russian passenger jets crashed almost simultaneously after what authorities believed were explosions on board triggered by suicide bombers, possibly Chechen women. One Beslan hostage said that there were 28 terrorists, including women in camouflage. The hostage said the militants began wiring the school with explosives as soon as they took control on Wednesday. The three-day-old crisis reached its climax as emergency workers entered the school to retrieve the bodies of hostages who had been killed. Explosions were heard and commandos moved in after about 30 women and children escaped.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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