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October 14, 2005

Russia: Nalchik, The Aftermath. 91 Islamists, 17 Others Dead

In Nalchik, the smoke has settled, the gunfire has ceased, hostages are free, and the bodycount has begun. From initial figures yesterday of 60, then 90 dead, the true figure is far higher. A report from Russian news agency Interfax quotes the Interior Minister of Kabardino-Balkaria, Khachim Shogenov, as saying the death toll among the militant insurgents is 91. Another 36 suspected insurgents have been detained, and from these nine have been charged.

The best gloss that can be put on this is that the attack was quelled fairly early, and the hostages who were taken early on, managed to survive their ordeal. Early this morning, the police station where the rebels had held five prisoners was stormed, and the hostages came out alive, according to Forbes. More than 150 armed attackers had beseiged public buildings in the capital of this small Caucasus state. The targets were police stations minsterial and security offices and a private armoury.

The Hindu reports that two hostages had been held in a gift shop in the centre of the city. This morning, the souvenir shop was raided with grenades blasted through the barred windows, and the hostages taken out alive. The Hindu states that at least 108 people had died in the fighting. If the figures are correct, then at least seventeen people who were not Islamists, i.e. special forces or bystanders, had lost their lives. There are few figures for the wounded.

A report from the Times makes for grim reading

Bloodied bodies from yesterday's fighting still lay in the streets this morning. A man's body lay near the entrance to police station No. 2 and the regional anti-terrorist center, where most of the windows had been blown out.

Across the street sprawled seven more bodies, most with horrific head injuries. Heavily armed police poked and kicked at the bodies, which were dressed in tracksuits and running shoes.

A report from the Russian Moscow Times gives the figure for the dead as at least 12 servicemen and at least 12 civilians. According to Pravda, at one stage in the siege, three woman hostages (out of six people) were released from the shop in exchange for two bottles of drinking water.

It would be rash at present to speculate too much here about who the Islamists were. I will be compiling a report on known Chechen Islamists and nationalists, including Basayev and the leader of the Islamist groups, the cleric Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, but for now, it is wiser to read some of the good background reports of the Chechen and Caucasus problem. The Times has a brief piece by Moscow correspondent, entitled Analysis: Chechnya Conflict Spreads, and though now slightly overtaken by current events, the BBC has a good report entitled: Chechnya, The Caucasus and Islam, and the Seattle Pi has an Associated Press item called A Look at Russia's Caucasus Republics.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 14, 2005 6:09 PM

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