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| Caucasus |
| Moscow hostages: the wrapup... |
| 2002-10-26 |
| Source is Islam OnLine... Itâs likely that special forces storming the Moscow theatre building, where Chechen fighters held hostages, used some soporific to neutralize the "terrorists." Video showed the "terrorists", camouflaged men and women of Caucasian appearance strapped with explosives. Judging by the poses of their bodies, the "terrorists" were killed asleep. Knocked them out and then killed 'em, huh? Sounds like a good deal... Oh... We're supposed to get indignant. Interfax reported that when rescuers of the Russian Ministry for Internal Affairs entered the theatre hall in half an hour after the storm, they saw dozens of unconscious people in the stalls, the dress circle and everywhere in the hall. Commander of the operative rescue service from the Russian Ministry for Internal Affairs Anatoly Belousov claimed: âThe people are shocked because of the stress and overfatigue, their faces are white.â That's really a pretty good move. It probably kept the civilian casualties down, too. It's hard to shoot at Bad Guys with a bunch of terrorized people rushing this way and that, which is what the Bad Guys were counting on... It is also reported that all hostages were evacuated from the building at about 9:00 a.m. All people have been sent to Moscow hospitals for rehabilitation. Some of the hostages, who died during the theater storming, may have been poisoned by gas Russian special forces released into the building to disable Chechen fighters. Several hostages may have choked on their own vomit, a likely effect of the gas. Up to 67 hostages died as Russian special forces stormed the theatre to end a three-day hostage crisis, Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev said. Wonder how many of those 67 were killed without mercy by the Bad Guys? I'd also imagine the number would have been higher without the gas, and higher still if the gummint had done nothing... The special forces rescued 750 hostages, Vasilyev said of the dawn attack in which 34 hostage-takers died. "Barayev claimed that Chechen fighters had come to Moscow 'not to survive, but to die.'" Guess the sonofabitch got his way, didn't he? Anya, a hostage, said they "could sense that the special forces were starting the assault. I don't know what the gas was. I thought: they don't want us to get out of here. We're all going to die." Moments later, an intense burst of gunfire was heard. "We understood: it was our people. It came from outside. Our government had decided that no one should get out alive." Guess you could have had more confidence, eh, Anya? The commander on the scene knew for a fact that some of the hostages would die or be seriously injured. Since he knew he couldn't save them all, he probably had a number above which he didn't want to go, which gave him a basis for planning. Had he tried to plan an operation in which no hostages would get killed, he'd probably still be there, and the Chechens would be shooting victim #148 through the head to show they were serious. So I'd call the commander and his troops heroes. An actor, who was among the freed hostages, said the special forces broke into the building after blasting a hole in the side. Many of the 349 hostages hospitalized, after they were freed by Russian forces, are in a serious condition, a hospital spokesman said. None of them were expected to be sent home Saturday. That's because they've been held by explosives-wearing terrorists, not because they were rescued by Russian troops... Chechen commandos had links to several foreign embassies in the Russian capital, an official with the FSB intelligence agency told the Interfax news agency. The Russian Foreign Ministry will investigate the links, the official added, without specifying which embassies were involved. Hostage-takers also had contacts abroad, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday October 24, that the hostage-taking was planned from "foreign terrorist centers." I hope that results in some pretty decisive diplomatic moves on Putin's part, rather than kicking a few Soddies and Jordanians out as PNGs... Earlier Saturday, the hundreds of surviving captives fled the building after several tense hours punctuated by explosions and gunfire, during which the fighter group's leader was also killed. Witnesses said some of the surviving hostage-takers were led out into the street by security forces. The Chechen fighters, numbering around 50, had said they were ready to die for their cause. They got their opportunity, didn't they? Now they can decompose in peace. Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev said "a small number" of the hostage-takers may have escaped. Russian television showed the blood-caked bodies of Chechen fighters who had been killed during the operation, including black-robed women who had worn explosives strapped to their bodies. The Interfax correspondent on the scene said he saw several detained fighters being led out of the theatre. Another official said security forces were looking for some remaining hostage-takers "who may have changed their clothes and may have mingled with hostages." Changed their minds, huh? The hostages themselves will probably be quite helpful in picking those guys out... There were no casualties among Russian special forces who took part in the operation. As usual, the hard boys are a lot better at killing civilians than they are at killing real soldiers. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 CNN is reporting that gas was used. I remember a commentator on this site suggesting that a few days ago. It was a damn good idea! Now, with any luck, Russia will carpet bomb all of Chechnya until the only surviving Chechens are those clowns in Denmark and Georgia. |
| Posted by: Aracona 2002-10-26 14:22:55 |
| #1 They quite probably used some sort of gas, which would explain why Spetznaz troops were wearing gas masks, why a lot of the people inside were covered in vomit, and why 349 people are hospitalized. The reason the russians are denying this is because anti-terrorism tactics aren't discussed. They stormed the theater after the chechens started executing the hostages, so there really was no other way to keep casualties at a minimum. |
| Posted by: Sam 2002-10-26 10:58:03 |