Beslan School Hostages

Terrorism in Russia

Wednesday's terrorist attack on the Russian school in Beslan, North Ossetia, appears to be led by an Islamist radical and a Chechen warlord. Wahabi Islam follower, Magomed Yevloyev, and red-bearded warlord, Doku Umarov, are considered most likely to be the perpetrators. The updated status is:

Hostage-takers released 30 women and children, including three infants, but more than 300 people remained trapped inside a school in this North Ossetian town for a second day Thursday. President Vladimir Putin said winning their freedom is his "main goal."

In a first release, two women and three babies left the school and crossed a security perimeter to safety Wednesday afternoon. One of the babies was naked and sat silently in the back seat of a sedan as former Ingush President Ruslan Aushev, who helped negotiate the group's release, addressed a crowd of anxious relatives.


A few minutes later, the heavily armed hostage-takers freed 25 women and children from the other side of the school. A teenage girl, wearing black pants and a black shirt with white stripes and holding a pink purse, was so weak that two or three men carried her out.

Aushev and Leonid Roshal, a well-known doctor, are assisting with negotiations with the attackers who are demanding the withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya and the release of jailed insurgents.

Pictured is a Russian special forces officer carrying a baby from the school in Beslan on Thursday. Behind him are two women carrying babies who were also freed after negotiations with Aushev. (Viktor Korotayev photo/Reuters)

The exact number of hostages is not known. According to Lev Dzugayev, an aide to North Ossetian President Alexander Dzasokhov, 350 children and adults were in the school, however, others estimate from 400 children alone to as many as 1,200 children and adults are being held hostage.

The exact number of deaths is also not known. Estimates vary between 12 and 16 at present. As many as nine bodies of victims remain on school grounds, too close to be retrieved safely, and are being chewed on by dogs. A request to shoot the dogs was denied for fear of alarming the terrorists and starting a firefight. The hostage-takers have vowed to kill 50 children for every one of their own killed.

According to the Kremlin, President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder each called President Putin offering any and all support. And, Putin needs support and prayers and luck to weather this crisis, as terrorism, not the economy, has become the predominant threat to Russia and to his presidency.

What we need now is some civil liberty leftists to tell us how the imperialist Americans are abusing the rights of terrorist detainees. Or maybe this is a good time for the Kerry campaign to downplay the importance of defending the nation and encourage the UN to take over.