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| Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| merimda |
| 10/25/02 at 23:38:59 |
| Russian Storm Theater, Free Hostage 6 minutes ago By MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20021026/ap_on_re_eu/russia_theater_raid MOSCOW (AP) - Russian special forces stormed the theater where Chechen rebels were holding hundreds of hostages, and officials said they were in control of the building and had killed the lead hostage-taker. About 20 bodies were seen being removed from the theater. AP Photo The hostages were being let out of the building, said Pavel Kudryavtsev, an official at the command center handling the crisis. Buses were also seen heading to the theater. The bodies were brought out shortly after an AP photographer saw about a hundred Russian special forces troops and firefighters entered the building. Wounded hostages were seen being removed from the theater. The Interfax news agency also said several people, apparently hostage-takers, were being brought out from the building with their hands bound. Movsar Barayev — a young warlord who inherited a gang of rebels from his uncle, the infamous Arbi Barayev — had led the group of as many as 50 heavily armed men and women into the theater Wednesday evening. Kudryavtsev said he was killed in the rescue raid. The developments came just before sunrise Saturday — the deadline by when the gunmen threatened to begin killing their captives unless Russia declared an end to the war in Chechnya (news - web sites) and began withdrawing troops. The crisis began Wednesday night when about 50 Chechen rebels, including women who said they were war widows, stormed the theater. From the start the rebels have said they were ready to die and take the hostages with them. Putin on Friday promised the hostage-takers would not be killed if they freed their captives. Late Friday, a mediator who met with the gunmen said they promised to release the hostages if Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) declared an end to the war in Chechnya and began withdrawing troops. The new demands were brought out of the theater just before midnight Friday by Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who is respected by Chechens for her reporting on the war and was called in by the rebels to mediate. Asked if the captors seemed to be preparing to start killing the hostages, Politkovskaya said they told her: "We're going to wait only a little while." Politkovskaya listed rebel demands, and foremost among them were Putin's declaration of an end to the war and the start of a Russian withdrawal from one region anywhere in Chechnya to show good will. If verified, the rebels promised to free the hostages. She said the captors agreed to her suggestion that verification be done by Lord Judd, a member of the Council of Europe who has made many trips to investigate the human rights situation in Chechnya. The demand was the first time that the gunmen revealed specific conditions for freeing the hostages, estimated to number as many as 800 and include Americans, Britons, Dutch, Australians, Canadians, Austrians and Germans. Earlier, the captors demanded that Russia withdraw from Chechnya. Putin said Friday that "the preservation of the lives of the people who remain in the theater building" was his overriding concern. Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev said after meeting with Putin that the hostage-takers' lives would be guaranteed if they freed their captives. Daria Morgunova, a spokeswoman for the musical, told The Associated Press that an actor who was among the hostages called her to say that the captors had threatened to begin killing hostages at dawn. She said she received the call about two hours before Patrushev's statement. The heavily armed hostage-takers have said they are ready to die and take their hostages with them if their demands aren't met, and witnesses say they have wired the building and themselves with explosives. The gunmen released 19 hostages Friday, including eight children aged between 6 and 12. Dressed in winter coats — and one clutching a teddy bear with aviator goggles — the children appeared healthy as they left the building accompanied by Red Cross workers in the afternoon. Seven adults were freed earlier in the day, and four citizens of Azerbaijan were released after dark, Russian officials said. Politkovskaya, a reporter for the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, arranged earlier for the hostage-takers to accept deliveries of water and warm meals for the captives. She was one of several influential figures who entered the theater late Friday in efforts to mediate with the captors. They also included former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and Ruslan Aushev, the former president of Ingushetia, a region bordering Chechnya. The hostage-takers have derided the Kremlin for refraining from sending high-level officials to negotiate. Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev was quoted by news agencies as saying unsuccessful attempts had been made to contact Aslan Maskhadov, a rebel leader who was president of Chechnya between Russian troops' withdrawal in 1996 and resumption of the war three years later. "The leader of the terrorist act is Maskhadov. It was organized with his participation," Vasilyev said in televised comments, while state-run Russian networks broadcast footage meant to prove the link. From a tape apparently made sometime since June, the footage showed Maskhadov saying rebels have shifted from guerrilla warfare to an "offensive" strategy and adding: "I am certain that in the final stage we will carry out a still more unique action, like the jihad, and with this operation we will liberate our land from the Russian aggressors." Hostages gave varying accounts of conditions in the theater, with one saying the captives hadn't received food or water and been using the orchestra pit as a toilet. A group of about 80 demonstrators outside the theater carried banners and chanted anti-war slogans. Several said they were responding to requests from relatives who were among the hostages. Alexander Petrov, a demonstrator who said he had friends inside the theater, said previously he had not been opposed to the Chechen war, but now "what way out is there?" Dozens of Nord-Ost cast members showed up later Friday to sing tunes from the musical, tears coursing down their faces, in a gesture of support and concern for their comrades inside. Vasilyev warned that unauthorized mass actions would not be tolerated, and the Media Ministry briefly ordered a television station briefly off the air for its coverage of the hostage crisis, also disciplining some other media for letting "terrorists" on the air. Other television stations backed off the full-time coverage that characterized the first day of the crisis. The hostage-taking occurred just 4.5 kilometers (2.7 miles) from the Kremlin and further undermines claims by Putin and other top Russian officials who insist the situation is under control in Chechnya, where Russian soldiers suffer casualties daily in small skirmishes or mine explosions. |
| 10/26/02 at 00:20:10 |
| merimda |
| 67 Hostages Die In Moscow Operation, Barayev Confi |
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| bhaloo |
| 10/26/02 at 08:11:36 |
| [slm] 67 Hostages Die In Moscow Operation, Barayev Confirmed Dead Oct 26, 2002 Source: Agencies, Jihad Unspun Sixty-seven hostages died during an operation to free hundreds of captives held by Chechen Mujahideen in a Moscow theatre and two hostage-takers remain at large, Russian officials have said. Thirty-four hostage-takers were also killed after Russian special forces, the Federal Security Service, stormed the building at 5.30 a.m. local time on Saturday after the Chechens began executing those being held, Russia's deputy interior minister, Vladimir Vasilyev, said. Movsar Barayev, the Commander of the Chechen group, is confirmed dead. "We saved more than 750 people... 67 were lost," Vasilyev said outside the theatre, adding that there were no children among the dead. But he said: "Two of the terrorists escaped and we are combing the territory. They are hiding themselves in houses. Refering to reports that a gas injected into the theatres by special forces ahead of the operation may have contributed to the deaths of some of the hostages, he said: "This is not so. "Of those who died, some were through stress, hunger and lack of medical supplies that they needed." All 75 foreign nationals, from 14 countries including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, Britain and the United States, are alive, diplomats said after the raid that ended the three-day siege. Russia's Interfax reported two of the hostages were killed in the hours before the activity intensified, and two others -- a woman and man -- suffered head injuries, a rescue official told the news agency. About 20 bodies were seen being removed from the building in the heart of the capital. Some of the victims are feared to have choked to death on their own vomit after special forces are reported to have used sleeping gas before raiding the building, The Associated Press reported. Many of the freed hostages appeared unconscious or in shock as they were loaded into waiting buses and ambulances. It was later reported that about 40 former hostages have been taken to hospital in a "poor condition" after suffering from gas poisoning. State Security chief Nikolai Patrushev had earlier claimed all the remaining Chechens had been taken captive. "None of them managed to get away," he was reported by Reuters as saying. Pictures taken inside the theatre by Russian television showed some bodies slumped in theatre seats or with their heads down on their arms as if they had passed out. Bombs lay on seats or were still strapped to some of the women Mujahideen waists. The building had reportedly been booby-trapped with mines laid at entrances and exits and a huge bomb was said to have been placed in the centre of the theatre. Some explosions were heard as special forces deactivated the devices or carried out controlled explosions. Russia's deputy interior minister, Vladimir Vasilyev, said the Russian forces were able to save many lives by preventing the explosion of the building. The stand-off, which had begun on Wednesday, had been a test for Russian President Vladimir Putin who had refused to give in to the Mujahideen hostage-takers' demands that Russian military forces be removed from the break-away republic. The Mujahideen had also said they would execute hostages if any attempt was made to storm the building. Explosions And Gunfire Heard As troops moved in, loud explosions and heavy gunfire could be heard. The rebels had said they were prepared to die for their cause, taking with them as many "sinners" as possible. "Most of the hostages have been saved and medical assistance is being provided to the persons who were wounded during this operation," Vasilyev said. A Russian official said the rebels had started shooting their hostages before the raid. After the two hostages were killed several hostages attempted to escape and came under fire from the Mujahideen. At this point, the Russian official said, special forces troops opened fire to aid the escaping hostages and the full-scale assault on the theatre followed. The activity began with a single blast and was followed by a series of explosions of different sizes. Bursts of automatic gun fire went on for a period of about 15 minutes before dying down. Heavily armed Russian security forces had the complex surrounded since shortly after the siege began Wednesday night. During the siege, several influential officials, including a former Russian prime minister, entered the theatre complex for talks with the hostage-takers and about 55 hostages had been released during the three-day siege. |
| Re: Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| BroHanif |
| 10/26/02 at 12:07:22 |
| Salaams, So the seige is now over, 90 hostages killed, many in serious condition due to the effects of sleeping gas and our sisters and brothers are still getting persecuted in Chechneya. The least we can do is make dua for them and every other oppressed person that Allah helps them through this difficulty and tough time. And those who can do more, they can send aid via Islamic Relief or the many other organistaions that are helping the ones who are being desposed by this war. Salaams Hanif |
| NS |
| Re: Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| Abd_al-Rashid |
| 10/27/02 at 00:41:28 |
| [slm] I was reflecting on this today, and it only shows the qadr of Allah. The mujahideen were asleep, and gas started coming in, and they died in their sleep. Subhana'allah, it is Allah who wakes us up when we fall asleep. It only shows that Malik al-Mawt can come at any time, tonight when we fall asleep we have no guarantees that we will wake up. You saw they said they went to Moscow to die, and knew with certainty they weren't going back. Once the believers reach this state, that they have the certainty that the dunya is worth less than the wing of a mosquito....There is no might nor strength except with Allah! May Allah accept them as shuhadaa ameen [wlm] |
| Re: Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 10/27/02 at 10:16:29 |
You saw they said they went to Moscow to die, and knew with certainty they weren't going back. Once the believers reach this state, that they have the certainty that the dunya is worth less than the wing of a mosquito....There is no might nor strength except with Allah! May Allah accept them as shuhadaa ameen lets tell the truth, they went to moscow to kill innocent people. They are using satans tactics thinking they are doing God's will. Murdering innocent people i would think will condemn them to being with satan. |
| Re: Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| Abd_al-Rashid |
| 10/27/02 at 19:09:54 |
| [slm] [quote]they went to moscow to kill innocent people.[/quote] See, that's the poison of CNN and MSNBC. For years the Russian military has been murdering Chechens and where were they? It's been reported that the Russians have killed thousands of civilians, not fighters but civilians. But let a group of mujahideen take over a theater and hold up to 800 hostage and demand and end to the war and withdrawal of Russian troops and now they are the vicious terrorists. Conveniently forgotten is the fact that the whole of Chechnya is being held hostage by the Russian military! The fact is we don't know what it's like to live under occupation so it's best that we don't speak or speculate about what would drive them to commit such an act. Perhaps it was that "the Russians have drowned us with the blood of our children" as one of the mujahidah said, but Allah knows best. [wlm] |
| 10/27/02 at 19:12:49 |
| Abd_al-Rashid |
| Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| Red |
| 10/27/02 at 19:15:17 |
| [quote author=BroHanif link=board=ummah;num=1035603539;start=0#2 date=10/26/02 at 12:07:22]Salaams, So the seige is now over, 90 hostages killed, many in serious condition due to the effects of sleeping gas and our sisters and brothers are still getting persecuted in Chechneya. [/quote] [slm], The gas the Russians used, has been everywhere in the news. The fact that the Russian Government is willing to use gas against its own people, just illustrastes how the Russian Government is cruel, and is williing to silence any world wide questions of it attrocities against the Chechen's. I agree with you Itcorpest, while its not right what they did, the Chechen "rebels", i don't know what other means they can use to get their freedom. The Russian government is not willing to listen to its own people, when they call to end a war against the Chechens. wasalam, red Gas Use Questioned in Moscow Raid http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021027/ap_on_re_eu/russia_theater_raid_243 By DAVID McHUGH, Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) - Doctors said Sunday they still hadn't been told exactly what was in a mysterious knockout gas that killed 116 hostages after Russian special forces stormed a Moscow theater to free them from Chechen terrorists. The chief Moscow city doctor says more than 150 hostages remained in critical condition after the operation, which at first had been seen as a triumphant rescue mission. The physician in charge of the city's poison unit said troops did not tell medical authorities they had gassed the auditorium until the 750 hostages were brought out, most of them unconscious. "But we didn't know the character of the gas," said Yevgeny Luzhnikov, head of the city health service Department of Severe Poisoning. The substance was described as akin to compounds used in surgical anesthesia. Andrei Seltsovsky, the chief city physician, explained that the gas affected hearts and lungs. He said he had no information when asked about reports that the compound could cause vomiting that would choke unconscious victims. "In standard situations, the compound...does not act as aggressively as it turned out to do," Seltsovsky said. "But it was used on people who were in a specific (extreme) situation for more than 50 hours.... All of this naturally made the situation more difficult." The approximately 800 hostages were taken Wednesday night when an estimated 50 Chechen rebels stormed the theater during a popular musical. They demanded that Russia end its war in Chechnya (news - web sites). The few dozen hostages who were well enough to be released Sunday could provide few clues as the the nature of the gas. "We knew something serious was going to happen" when the gas started seeping into the hot auditorium that reeked of excrement, said Mark Podlesny as he walked out of Veterans Hospital No. 1 near the theater. "I lost consciousness. Yes, there was a strange smell," said Roma Shmakov, a 12-year-old actor in "Nord-Ost," the musical in progress when the gunmen burst in at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday. The gas mystery tainted the rescue mission, overlaying it with an aura of confusion and callousness. The impression was bolstered by scenes outside hospitals where the hostages were taken for treatment. Friends and family crowded the gates in futile efforts to learn if relatives or loved ones were inside. Authorities gave out little information on hostages' identities, what hospital they were in or how they had fared through the ordeal. Even diplomats had trouble finding information about the estimated 70 foreign citizens who were among the captives. U.S. consular officials searched the city's hospitals for one of the two American citizens known to have been in the theater. A second American was found recuperating in a city clinic. Two foreign women — one Dutch and one Austrian — were known to have died. Only on Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after the hostages were freed, did hospitals post complete or even partial lists of who they were holding. Visits still were prohibited. Some people outside the gates saw their relatives waving to them from windows. "They are hostages again," one visitor shouted to the armed guards at Hospital 13, where about half the captives were taken. Most of those who left the hospitals hugged those meeting them, then hurried to get out of the chilling rain and avoid a pulsing crowd of reporters and TV cameras. Those who stopped to talk gave accounts of the ordeal that sometimes contradicted the official version. Podlesny questioned Russian television footage that showed the captors' corpses in the theater amid liquor bottles and syringes. "They didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't swear. They were very disciplined," he said. Both Podlesny and Georgy Vasilyev, the producer of Nord-Ost, disputed Russian officials' statement that the gunmen had begun shooting hostages before dawn and prompting the special forces' to start their assault. A total of 118 hostages where known to have died since the Chechens stormed the theater — 116 from the effects of the gas, one young woman shot and killed early in the standoff and one hostage shot Saturday morning shortly before the rescue raid. President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) visited the special forces troops Sunday to congratulate them on the mission and declared Monday a national day of mourning. As troops that had surrounded the theater building began to withdraw, Muscovites placed flowers at the perimeter. Many of the 50 assailants killed in the hostage-rescue mission died after being shot in the head, apparently while unconscious from the gas. The Federal Security Service said three other gunmen were captured, and authorities searched the city for accomplices or gunmen who may have escaped. The chief Moscow prosecutor, Mikhail Avdyukov, said Sunday that three people had been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of helping organize and carry out the raid, the Interfax news agency reported. The attackers included 18 women, many of whom said they were war widows. The women had explosives strapped to their bodies, and mines were place throughout the building the terrorists threatened to blow the building to bits unless Putin agreed to withdraw troops from mainly Muslin Chechnya Russian forces pulled out of Chechnya after a devastating 1994-1996 war that left separatists in charge. In fall 1999, Putin sent troops back in after rebels based in Chechnya attacked a neighboring region and after apartment-building bombings blamed on the militants killed about 300 people. In 1995 and 1996, rebels seized hundreds of hostages in two raids in southern Russia near Chechnya, and dozens of people died in both cases, many of them killed when Russian forces attacked the assailants. |
| NS |
| 10/27/02 at 19:21:37 |
| Red |
| Re: Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 10/27/02 at 21:43:25 |
| Quote:they went to moscow to kill innocent people. See, that's the poison of CNN and MSNBC. For years the Russian military has been murdering Chechens and where were they? It's been reported that the Russians have killed thousands of civilians, not fighters but civilians. But let a group of mujahideen take over a theater and hold up to 800 hostage and demand and end to the war and withdrawal of Russian troops and now they are the vicious terrorists. Conveniently forgotten is the fact that the whole of Chechnya is being held hostage by the Russian military! The fact is we don't know what it's like to live under occupation so it's best that we don't speak or speculate about what would drive them to commit such an act. Perhaps it was that "the Russians have drowned us with the blood of our children" as one of the mujahidah said, but Allah knows best. rasheed, i think i can, lived under occupation from these same russians in lithuania. I want the chechens to be free also, but if my fellow countrymen did what the chechens did i would condemn it as wrong but stupid also |
| Re: Russian Troops Storm Theater |
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| UmmWafi |
| 10/28/02 at 00:05:40 |
| [slm] everyone It feels like ages since I was here but in truth, it's only been some matter of days. Maybe the length of time I felt was largely due to the fact that even though only several days have passed, still, around the world many lives are lost. And still continue to be lost... Reading this thread, it seems a bit eerie to me to know that every second we live in this world is every second of uncertainty and change. Yet, some things still persistently remain the same. Muslims are still trying to see the hikmah behind events and explaining them from a certain Islamic viewpoint and the non-Muslims still struggling to understand the dichotomy of Islam as peace and Islamic militanism. Why is the need for this constant squaring off ? Maybe thats the whole problem. Justifications and accusations. I have no wish to join the fray and give my often insignificant two-cents worth. But, I do want to say this. Eventually, what is right and what is wrong and who is right and who is wrong will be Judged by Al-Hakeem and His Judgement will be inescapable. Before that Day comes, it would be rather premature of us to be dogmatic in our assessment of any given act, even that done in the name of Islam. Perhaps what we could do is to avoid adding to the confusion and chaos and just simply make a sincere du'a for all, for any, innoent lives lost and to also seek guidance for each and everyone of us to be a Muslim in the truest sense of the word. I am truly truly sorry if the tone of this post appears out-of-sorts but I am just too sad by too many human follies to even attempt a genial reply. Where I have offended, my sincerest apologies. Wassalam |
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