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Rebels launch attacks in southern Russia
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-13 20:03
The republic's president, Arsen Kanokov, was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news
agency as saying about 50 militants had been killed. Estimates of the number of
attackers ranged from 60 to 300.
The Kavkaz-Center Web site, seen as a voice for rebels loyal to Chechen
warlord Shamil Basayev, said it had received a short message on behalf of the
Caucasus Front. It said the group is part of the Chechen rebel armed forces and
includes Yarmuk, an alleged militant Islamic group based in Kabardino-Balkariya.
The strategy of launching simultaneous attacks on police facilities echoed
last year's siege in another Caucasus republic, Ingushetia, in which 92 people
died and police armories were looted. Basayev claimed responsibility for those
attacks.
The Interior Ministry officer said Thursday's fighting began after police
received an anonymous telephoned tip that about 10 armed militants had entered
the suburb of Belaya Rechka, and police and security forces launched an
operation to capture them.
The Interfax news agency cited an unidentified law-enforcement official as
saying the battle was sparked by the detention of a group of adherents to the
radical Wahhabi sect of Islam, and that their fellow believers were trying to
free them.
Gunmen launched simultaneous attacks against three
police stations, the city's airport and the regional headquarters of the
Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service, a police officer said on
condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. They
also attacked the city's military commissariat and raided a hunting store,
apparently to obtain weapons, the officer said.
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