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| Caucasus |
| Chechen thugs had Russian plates... |
| 2002-12-30 |
| Source: The Guardian Russian security services yesterday began an urgent investigation into their forces in Chechnya, after it was revealed that the truck driven by three suicide bombers into the government building in the capital, Grozny, killing at least 57 people, bore Russian military plates. The old Stolen Plates trick. Or maybe the old Stolen Truck trick... As rescuers were still combing the wreckage for survivors, Chechen government sources said both vehicles that ploughed through the gates of the most tightly guarded building in the country had passed through three military checkpoints on their way to Grozny. With some well-forged documents... The vehicles, the heavier of which bore Russian military plates and caused the greatest number of casualties by speeding a ton of TNT into the canteen during the lunch hour, had been driven from the Nadterechny district in northern Chechnya and passed unimpeded to Grozny. A source within the Moscow-backed government of the republic said the bombers had shown documents with signatures and seals issued by the Chechen government at at least two checkpoints. 'In Grozny, an attempt was made to stop the trucks for inspection. However, the drivers ignored the order, proceeded to the government buildings at a high speed and burst through the gate,' the source said. Somebody's counting himself lucky he wasn't the one who managed to stop a 5-ton truck full of dynamite... That the bombers were able to so easily dupe stringent security measures has led to accusations by members of the Chechen administration of complicity by Russian troops. On Friday, a senior aide to the Chechen administration, Abu Bakar Bayitirov, said: 'All the guards are Russians and I am sure that this could not happen without betrayal.' The head of the administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, has said the guards' actions must be investigated and that the 'terrorists act as if they were masters of Grozny'. It could also have to do with using draftees, and with the Russian military's reverence for official signatures and seals. The U.S. military isn't free of this, either, by the way. Betrayal could be an issue, but it probably isn't. It sounds more like normal incompetence. This sound more like shooting the wounded than trying to catch the bad guys. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |