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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Hard boyz still holding hostages in Nalchik |
| 2005-10-14 |
| Russian security forces were surrounding Chechen fighters holed up with hostages in a town in the Caucasus on Friday, officials said, a day after a brazen rebel raid that killed dozens. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who came to power in 2000 by talking tough on Chechnya, ordered his security forces to cordon off the southern town of Nalchik after Thursday's attack and kill any gunmen who put up resistance. The authorities' rapid response to the crisis was in contrast to last year's deadly attack by Chechen militants on a school in the town of Beslan, when the Russian leader was widely criticized for staying silent for too long. But it remained unclear whether it would deflect public criticism over another failure by security services to prevent a rebel assault in the turbulent region. The closely coordinated attack on police, army and Federal Security Service (FSB) points in the garrison town marked the first major rebel operation since Abdul-Khalid Sadulayev took over as leader of the Chechen separatists in March. It made good his threat to broaden the war for independence against Russian troops in Chechnya to encompass the whole of the mainly Muslim north Caucasus region. As evening fell, Nalchik residents stood behind trees and walls, nervous that the gunfire might start again, and its usually bustling streets were deserted. Officials said two small groups of fighters were holed up in a police station and in a shop and were holding small numbers of hostages. "There is no more resistance in the town now. There are two locations where bandits are holed up and now we are handling this issue," said local Interior Minister Khachim Shogenov, speaking in a ministry building scarred with bullet holes. Police said 61 rebels had died in the raid, in the main city of the Muslim Kabardino-Balkaria region near rebel Chechnya, while 17 had been captured. Several corpses lay in the streets in pools of blood and covered over with blankets during the attack, which wound down by around midday. But Russian officials said the security forces had re-established firm control of the town. "Our main task is to find the bandits in the city," said Russia's Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin. "Not one car, not one train, not one bus will go past without being closely checked." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 well i did see films from the fight and it was obvious that there were alot of dark araab sodliers among the dead chetchen so this is another ecample of arab/muslim terrorism spreading out |
| Posted by: Viking 2005-10-14 18:13 |
| #1 Whether out of necessity or design the Chechen resistance movement has again been exposed as an Islamist revolution complete with all the usual terrorist tactics. Likewise the Russian army has again been proven incapable of controlling a comparatively small territorial conflict. Needless to say, surviving a full-scale Islamist insurrection in Central Asia would be utterly beyond its strength. Like it or not Russia is central to the future of the 'coalition against terrorism'. And it should be clear by now that Russia needs help in this region. First, the West must cease its public denunciations of Russian tactics in Chechnya as âheavy handedâ. Second, it may be time for the US to reshape its strategies for control over the Caucasus and oil supplies from the Caspian Sea. Finally, military cooperation between Russia and the West should be enhanced to defeat our immediate and common enemy. Itâs time to acknowledge the Chechen resistance is not a national movement against Russian imperialism but a part of a much larger international Islamist terrorist syndicate. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-14 13:24 |