http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/28041.htm
RUSSIAN KID HOSTAGES DIE IN BLOODBATH
September 4, 2004 -- BESLAN, Russia -- Russian commandos stormed a school yesterday, ending a three-day standoff with Chechen hostage-takers in a bloody battle that killed at least 250 people -- dozens of them children -- and left hundreds wounded.
Some of the terrified children, naked and bloody, were mercilessly gunned down by the al Qaeda-backed terrorists as they tried to run for safety.
The troops were forced to storm the school in the southern Russian town of Beslan after 53 hours of fruitless negotiations, when the estimated 28 Chechen and Arab hostage-takers -- some with bombs strapped to their waists -- opened fire on scores of panicked children. The kids tried to run to safety after a series of explosions in a gymnasium where they had been held.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Beslan early today for a surprise three-hour visit, ordered security forces to block the region's borders in an attempt to track down any terrorists who may have gotten away during the siege.
"I have ordered Beslan to be sealed off, Ossetia's borders to be closed and checks to be carried out to find all people linked to the terrorist act," said Putin, who visited a local hospital where many of the wounded were taken for treatment.
The scene inside the school during the standoff was one of unimaginable horror.
One terrorist held up the corpse of a man just shot dead in front of hundreds of the hostages and warned, "If a child utters even a sound, we'll kill another one."
A former hostage, who identified himself as Teimuraz, told Associated Press TV that the 28 terrorists began wiring the gym with explosive booby traps as soon as they took over the building.
Freed hostage Alla Gadieyeva, mother of a pupil at the school, told Britain's Sky News that the Islamic fanatics, who wore long hair and beards, made the hostages kneel on the gym floor with hands over their heads and confiscated and smashed all cellphones.
She recalled that the terrorists laughed as the stifling heat began to build and children began to faint from heat and dehydration. The terrorists told their captives that if they were thirsty, they should drink their own urine, she said.
"We were in complete fear," Gadieyeva said. "People were praying all the time and those that didn't know how to pray, we taught them."
The fighting continued well into the night as three terrorists, including a man Russian media identified as Chechen military commander Magomet Yevloyev -- the mastermind of the evil takeover -- blockaded themselves in the basement. They reportedly held several hostages, including children.
Three terrorists, who had changed into civilian clothes during the battle, were arrested as they tried to escape, Russian authorities reported yesterday.
There were conflicting figures as to how many people died in the siege.
Valery Andreyev, regional director of the FSB security service, said authorities have identified the remains of 80 people.
More than 100 bodies were spotted in the school's gymnasium, most having died when the initial explosions from mines and booby traps set by the terrorists caused the part of the roof and a wall to collapse.
Scores more corpses -- including those of children -- were seen outside morgues in the southern Russian town near Chechnya.
"The number of those killed in the terrorist act in Beslan could be more than 150," said Aslambek Aslakhanov, Putin's top aide on Chechnya.
The Interfax News agency reported late last night that the death toll had climbed to 250 and other Russian media reported that 646 people, including more than 300 children, were taken to hospitals.
Aslakhanov said 20 terrorists -- including 10 "Arab mercenaries" -- were killed in the battle.
One female terrorist -- suspected of being a member of the cult-like Black Widows terror gang -- reportedly exploded a bomb strapped to her waist inside the gym as the fighting began.
Another was arrested outside a local hospital dressed in a white hospital gown, according to Russian media reports.
As President Bush opened his post-convention campaign swing in Pennsylvania, the White House reacted angrily to what aides say is a dramatic escalation of the Chechen terrorist campaign for independence.
"The responsibility for the tragic loss of life rests with the terrorists," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
"The United States stands side by side with Russia in our global fight against terrorism. There is no justification for the taking of innocent life, and the barbaric nature of this terrorist act is despicable," McClellan added.
Russian officials insisted they did not plan to use force to retake the school, even though the terrorists -- demanding that Moscow withdraw from Chechnya so they can establish an Islamic state -- repeatedly refused to allow authorities to send in food, water and medicine for the estimated 1,200 hostages inside the sweltering gym.
Now, we ALL already now that those terrorists are slaughterers, who need no sympathy. That's O-B-V-I-O-U-S. What my respectable fellow A2K-ers are doing here is questioning the fact whether MORE carnage could have been prevented. That's NORMAL!
