Gewapende mannen bezetten school in Kaukasus

quote:

Police, gunmen in Russia shootout

Thursday, October 13, 2005; Posted: 3:25 a.m. EDT (07:25 GMT)
(CNN) -- Police in southern Russia fought an unknown number of gunmen following "guerrilla" attacks on government facilities -- including police stations -- early Thursday, Russian news agencies reported.

An official told Interfax news agency that battles were currently under was "virtually everywhere" in the town of Nalchik -- the capital of the southern Russian region of Kabardino-Balkariya.

"Security forces are conducting an operation to eliminate the guerillas," the news agency reported, quoting a high-ranking Kabardino-Balkarian Emergency Situations Ministry source.

Authorities said children were being evacuated from a number of schools in the city center. The rebels were repelled from attacking Nalchik airport, Interfax reported.

Itar-Tass news agency reported security forces had killed three gunmen, confiscating a number of weapons and grenades. At least one member of the police force was wounded in the fighting.

There were civilian casualties as well, but exact numbers were not known, said Interfax, quoting army headquarters in Nalchik.

Federal forces are said to be surrounding the city, located in a majority Muslim area.

"A law enforcement source earlier said that the gunmen launched the attack after security forces detained a group of Wahhabites, who their supporters are currently trying to release," Interfax reported. The Wahhabites are a sect of Islam.

Among the government facilities attacked were the Kabardino-Balkarian Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) department, Interfax reported.

Black smoke could be seen pouring out of a police station at the Interior Ministry. Other fires were reported in Nalchik.

quote:

Doden bij gevechten in Kaukasus

Uitgegeven: 13 oktober 2005 08:17
Laatst gewijzigd: 13 oktober 2005 10:25
MOSKOU -In gevechten tussen politieagenten en opstandelingen in hoofdstad Naltsjik van de Russische deelrepubliek Kabardië-Balkarië zijn zeker twintig doden gevallen. Dat heeft Moskou Radio gemeld op gezag van ziekenhuisbronnen in Kabardië-Balkarië in de Kaukasus.

Russische persbureaus meldden eerder dat gewapende mannen een politiebureau en enkele andere overheidsgebouwen hadden bezet. De politie sloot daarop het centrum van Naltsjik af en ontruimde een school in de buurt van het bezette politiebureau.

Kabardië-Balkarië geldt als een bolwerk van militante moslims. Eerder dit jaar brachten politieagenten vijf vermoedelijke moslimsterroristen om, die zich in een huis in Naltsjik hadden verschanst.

quote:

Up to 20 Dead in Armed Clashes in Russia’s Nalchik
Created: 13.10.2005 12:41 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:42 MSK, 54 minutes ago


MosNews


Up to 10 guerrillas have been killed in armed clashes with federal security forces in Nalchik on Thursday, the Kabardino-Balkarian presidential chief of staff Oleg Shandirov told Interfax. The local hospital reports 20 killed and 40 wounded, Ekho Moskvy added.

“About 10 guerrillas have been killed. There are also casualties amongst law enforcement agencies, but I will not give their number,” Shandirov said.

“The intensity of armed clashes in Nalchik is subsiding,” he said.

A number of guerrillas, surrounded near city police department No. 3 and a local anti-terrorist center, are continuing to put up armed resistance, he said.

“Helicopters have been used in an operation to track the guerrillas,” he said.

A source in the Nalchik Republican Hospital reported at least 20 people in uniforms died in the gun battles in the city, the Ekho Moskvy radio station added.

Up to 40 people, among them two Wahhabites, are in hospital at the moment with various injuries, and wounded people keep arriving, the source added.

Fighting broke out early Thursday in the Kabardino-Balkarian capital Nalchik when armed militants attempted to seize buildings belonging to the city’s authorities: the airport, the military commissariat, the Federal Security Service building, and the local Interior Ministry offices.

Nalchik is the main city in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria — a Muslim region in the Caucasus that borders the North Ossetia province where Chechen militants attacked a school in the town of Beslan in September 2004, resulting in the deaths of 331 people, half of them children.

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Russische troepen bestormen schuilplaats rebellen (video)

Uitgegeven: 14 oktober 2005 07:13
Laatst gewijzigd: 14 oktober 2005 08:17
NALTSJIK - Russische troepen hebben vrijdagochtend een politiebureau bestormd in de stad Naltsjik in de Russische deelrepubliek Kabardië-Balkarië, dat door gewapende opstandelingen was bezet. De militairen bevrijdden vijf mensen die gegijzeld werden gehouden en doodden de acht opstandelingen.

Bekijk video:
Modem/ Breedband

Dat hebben openbaar aanklager Vladimir Kolesnikov en een politiewoordvoerder laten weten. Getuigen stelden aanvankelijk dat de gegijzelden uit een winkel waren bevrijd. Kolesnikov zei echter dat de actie tegen rebellen in een politiebureau was gericht.

Winkel

Hij zei tegen het Russische persbureau dat er ook nog een politieactie loopt tegen rebellen die zich in een winkel in het centrum van Naltsjik hebben verschanst en waarschijnlijk enkele vrouwen in gijzeling houden.