- Title: RUSSIA: Twelve civilians,12 police killed in attack on Caucasus town of Nalchik
- Date: 13th October 2005
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 13, 2005) (REUTERS) COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING MAIN PAGE ON CHECHEN REBEL WEB SITE SCREEN CHANGING TO SHOW NEWS PAGE ON CHECHEN REBEL WEB SITE VARIOUS OF NEWS ITEM ON CHECHEN REBEL WEBSITE ABOUT "OPERATION" IN THE TOWN OF NALCHIK
- Embargoed: 28th October 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA53PUBSJL4L4OQ6T2HJ4RWOMSW
- Story Text: A total of 12 civilians, 12 police and about 20 militants were killed on Thursday (October 13) when Chechen rebels launched attacks on police and army buildings in the southern town of Nalchik, a senior justice official said. "As a result of the operation, 12 police were killed and 12 civilians, and also about 20 fighters. Additionally, 12 fighters were detained," deputy state prosecutor Vladimir Kolesnikov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who came to power in 2000 by talking tough on Chechnya, stepped into the crisis, ordering his security forces to throw a ring of steel round the town of Nalchik and kill any gunman who put up resistance. "The president gave an instruction that not one gunman should be allowed to leave the town, and those who are armed and putting up resistance must be wiped out," Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said after meeting Putin, Interfax news agency reported. Regional officials quoted by Russian news agencies said that after a morning of mayhem in Nalchik, main city of the Muslim Kabardino-Balkaria region near rebel Chechnya, at least 12 local residents had been killed and 64 others wounded. News agencies put the number of militants at around 150 and some as high as 200. This was not confirmed by security forces, but Chekalin, in televised comments, said 50 fighters had been killed. Between 10 and 12 police officers had been killed. Kremlin envoy to southern Russia, Dmitry Kozak, said on state television that the gunmen had stormed one police station and taken hostages. But officials quoted by Itar-Tass news agency said they were later freed, though there were no details. Kozak said that overall the town was under control. The bold, highly-coordinated attack on police, army and Federal Security Service (FSB) points in Nalchik marked the first major rebel operation since Abdul-Khalid Sadulayev took over as leader of the Chechen separatists in March. The separatists, who have been fighting for independence from Russia for more than a decade, were quick to claim responsibility for the assault on Nalchik, a town of about 280,000 people. "Forces of the Caucasus Front -- a unit of the Chechen Republic's Armed Forces -- went into the town, including attack brigades from the Kabardino-Balkarian Yarmuk (Islamist brigade)," a statement on their Web site www.kavkazcenter.com said. Kabardino-Balkaria is one of several Muslim regions in the Caucasus and borders the North Ossetia province where Chechen militants attacked a school in Beslan in September 2004, resulting in the deaths of 331 people, half of them children. Putin was seriously criticised for remaining silent for too long at the beginning of the Beslan drama. His decision to step publicly into the Nalchik crisis, with his tough talk, appeared to show he was learning from that mistake. At the height of the fighting, automatic firing resounded around the town and smoke rose from one of the main police buildings under attack. Children were evacuated from a school nearby while police sent in special forces and armoured vehicles to tackle the gunmen. "I just woke up when an explosion went off. I could see buildings were on fire. Buildings in the centre are burning," a local man, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters by telephone. "I've heard grenades, machine guns, heavy machine guns," he said. Tass quoted police as saying the attackers had operated in 10 mobile groups, targeting five or six strategic points -- police buildings, Russian army units and a gun store. An attempt to seize the regional airport was repelled, agencies said. In North Ossetia, scene of the Beslan school bloodbath, security forces were put on high alert. The attack was reminiscent of an operation in June 2004 when pro-Chechen militants attacked police buildings in Nazran and effectively took control of the Ingushetia region -- near to Kabardino-Balkaria -- for several hours. About 60 people, many of them police, were killed in that attack.
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