Chechenya Blast Kills 30

GeneralTacticus · May 12, 2003, 07:30

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe...ast/index.html

Quote:

Chechnya blast kills at least 30
Monday, May 12, 2003 Posted: 7:08 AM EDT (1108 GMT)

MOSCOW, Russia -- At least 30 people were killed and many more injured on Monday when a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into government buildings in Chechnya, local officials said.

The blast in the town of Znamenskoye, north of the regional capital Grozny, was the most serious rebel attack since a Kremlin-organised constitutional referendum in March anchored the breakaway Muslim territory firmly in Russia.

Sultan Akhmetkhanov, head of the Nadterechny region, said the attack killed at least 30 people and injured two or three times that many.

Emergency workers were digging through the rubble Monday afternoon for victims of the bomb that exploded at 10:10 a.m. local time, Akhmetkhanov said.

The bomb left a crater two meters deep and 16 meters wide and destroyed at least eight houses, he said.

A defiant Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately said such attacks would not derail the Kremlin's peace plan for the region.

"The actions...were directed at stopping the process of bringing about a political settlement to the situation in Chechnya," Putin told a meeting of top government officials, according to Reuters. "We cannot allow anything like this to happen, nor will we."

The head of the pro-Moscow Chechen government, Akhmad Kadyrov, said security needed to be stepped up as a result of the bomb. "We need to be more vigilant and responsible so that no vehicles with explosives can travel around the territory of the republic.

"Where did this car with explosives come from? How did it get to Znamenskoye? I have many questions," he said.

Monday's attack comes five months after a truck-bomb attack on the headquarters of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration in Grozny killed at least 50 people.

Northern Chechnya is considered the most stable part of the region, The Associated Press reports. It was the first area to come under the control of Russian forces that entered the republic in 1999, starting the second war in a decade.

Frankychan · May 12, 2003, 07:36

Another reason why we should stamp out fundamentalism world-wide once and for all.

Az · May 12, 2003, 09:19

Fanatical *******s. The body count is higher than 40, by now, AFAIK.

alva · May 12, 2003, 10:24

Quote:

Another reason why we should stamp out fundamentalism world-wide once and for all.

Doesn't work like this I'm affraid.
Bur yeahn they are #[{{[@||#@@

Spiffor · May 12, 2003, 11:35

Murderous *******s

Pekka · May 12, 2003, 13:11

This is a tragedy for sure, but let's not start swinging clubs before we know who exactly was behind this. It's war there, a real war, so I wouldn't consider this terrorism, if it's not a terrorist group. War crime for sure.

DaShi · May 12, 2003, 13:12

They're freedom fighters!

Az · May 12, 2003, 13:13

Pekka, I don't think there is any real doubt behind who this is.

Spiffor · May 12, 2003, 13:13

Well, if the aim or the result is to spread terror among the pro-Russian part of the Chechen population, it is terorrism. If the aim or the result is to undermine Russia's efforts to settle the situation at its advantage, it is a dreadful war act.

Doesn't make them any less *******s

Pekka · May 12, 2003, 13:48

Azazel, maybe not.

Yeah, it doesn't make it any less tragedy. But in my opinion it makes it still different. I still condemn it, but we can't go on and call everyone terrorist. This could be a terrorist act, but before good information I wouldn't start jumping. Not all suicide attacks are terrorist attacks.

DinoDoc · May 12, 2003, 14:02

Quote:

Originally posted by DaShi
They're freedom fighters!

Agreed, Dashi. The plight of Chechnya faces in the face of an agressive Russian onslaught is no more tragic than that of the Palestinians.