During School Siege, Russia Took Captives in Chechnya. It was 6 a.m. when Russian soldiers hoisted themselves over the wall, crashed through the window and broke down the front door. Their quarries were still asleep.
Shouting, shoving and kicking, the soldiers pushed 67-year-old Khavazh Semiyev and his wife into a truck waiting outside, then went back for the others - his two sons and two nephews, his son's wife, his 52-year-old sister. Then - and Semiyev couldn't believe his eyes — they went back for his grandchildren: Mansur, 11 years old. Malkhazni, 9. And Mamed, 7.
They were driven in their nightclothes and socks through the empty early morning streets of Chechnya to the Russian army's command center at Khankala. There, the men were forced onto their knees with their heads on the ground. Sacks were pulled over their heads, and their hands were tied behind their backs. For the next 24 hours, anyone who moved from that position got kicked.
One day into the seizure of more than 1,000 hostages by suspected Chechen separatists in the town of Beslan, Russia now had its own hostages. Altogether, an estimated 40 family members of senior Chechen rebel leaders were assembled at Khankala from Thursday, a day after the hostage seizure in Beslan, until Saturday, the day after it ended...
...But the arrest of the rebel leaders' families also drew a negative reaction, especially since at least two family members suffered broken bones and several others severe bruises from being beaten and kicked.
"They just nabbed some elderly grannies. What did they have to do with either the field commanders here or the hostages in Beslan?" Magomed Akhmadov, 27, said. "I think they did it out of hatred. I think they wanted to demonstrate that they were strong." (link)
Russia has been brutalizing Chechnya for a long time. Nobody paid attention until the Chechens responded with equal brutality. What lesson does that teach? [Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs]
I think al-Muhajabah is off on a couple of points here. First, and most obvious, is that it simply isn't true that "nobody paid attention" to what the Russians have been doing in Chechnya. In fact, this claim is actually a bit silly when she actually links to a page full of articles on the subject. Second, it's not accurate to say that the Chechens have responded with "equal brutality." Only around 350 people died in Beslan--for the Chechens to be as brutal as the Russians, they would have to murder another 159,600 or so Russian civilians.
I don't approve of the direction the Chechens have been going in recent years, but it's totally wrong to equate their terrorist attacks to what the Russians have done. The Chechens don't even have the means to be as murderous as the Russians, even if they wanted to be. And let's not forget that three Chechens and no Russians were killed by their own leaders for objecting to taking children hostage in this latest episode.
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