Beyond Reason Part One: Beslan

This is part one in what will be a reoccurring multi-part series on why we fight. The series is called “Beyond Reason” because the events described defy any sense of logic and reason; in fact, these events defy humanity in every sense. Each of these events helps us to understand evil and helps lay the foundation of understanding as to why it is that we fight, and die, to help preserve the sanctity of human life.

A warning to readers: This post is graphic and disturbing. The pictures at the end of the post are violent, graphic and uncensored. If this sort of thing bothers you, please don’t read on. This post is intended to be raw as this sort of event should never be diluted to protect people from the truth.

Beyond Reason Part One: Beslan

September 1st, 2004:

It was the Day of Knowledge at Comintern Street School Number One in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia in the Russian Federation. The day was to consist of festivities for children and parents to welcome them back for the school year. The school had 59 teachers and support staff and 900 students between the ages of eight and eighteen. Because of the festivities, the number of people at the school was over 1200 on that day.

At 9:30am, the festivities came to an abrupt end as 32 heavily armed Islamic men and 2 women, some wearing suicide belts, stormed the school shouting “Allah Akbar!” During the initial confusion, around 50 people were able to escape and go for help. Approximately 1200 people were taken hostage and forced into the school’s 10 meter by 25 meter gym. The attackers established rules, one of which was that only Russian was to be spoken. A father of one of the students, Betrozov Ruslan, stood up and tried to calm the people and repeat the rules in the local language. He was promptly approached and killed by a gunman with a single shot to the head. Another father, Vadim Bolloyev, refused to kneel and was shot and bled to death on the gym floor. The attackers rounded up cell phones and as a ten-year old boy described: “One of the female terrorists searched us for mobile phones. She told us that if she found a phone on someone, that person would be killed and three more people near him or her would be killed too.”

At this point, the attackers rounded up 16 of the men who they perceived to be the strongest of the group. These 16 were brought into another room where the attackers opened fire with automatic gunfire, killing the men. The attackers then forced several other hostages to throw the bodies out of the building and clean the blood off of the floor.

The attackers “mined” the gym and other school building with explosives. The hostages were surrounded with trip wires and explosives packed with nuts and bolts were hung overhead to maximize casualties. Children were also forced to sand exposed in the windows to act as human shields. At this time, there were no demands made, although the attackers sent out a hostage with a note stating that they would kill “10 hostages if electricity or communication is cut, 20 hostages for every one of them wounded, 50 hostages for every killed, and to kill everybody if 5 attackers are killed.” They later dropped a note out a window demanding Russian forces withdraw from Chechnya.

At 3pm the two female attackers with suicide belts are blown up. It is unknown as to if they blew themselves up or were detonated by “the colonel” who appeared to be in charge of the operation. There are conflicting reports regarding the explosions, although it is said that the leader blew them up to kill people who were disagreeing with the use of child hostages and to intimidate other possible dissenters. Several adult hostages were killed by the explosions.

At the end of the day, the attackers refused to allow water and medicine shipments for the hostages. A 17-year old girl recounts that “On Sept. 1, they give a bucket of water to one boy and told him to only give it to the children.” They said that if any adult drank the water, they would shoot the boy.”

September 2nd, 2004:

Fatigue had set in with the hostages. The attackers refused to allow food for water for the hostages, and they were forced to stand for extended periods of time in the gym. One 14-year old boy recounts how “they taunted the exhausted hostages, often forcing them to stand and sit quickly in the hot, crowded gym.” He goes on to day that: “On the second day, we were all very thirsty. Women told us, the boys, to pee into plastic bottles so that the children could then drink our pee. I peed into a bottle, and small children — even babies — drank it.”

At this time, the attackers would not allow the dead bodies of the executed hostages to be retrieved from the building grounds. There were no reported deaths on the second day, and 11 nursing mothers and 15 children were released. At around 3:30pm the attackers fired two RPGs at the security forces.

As the day and night wore on, the attackers grew hysterical and unpredictable – presumably from stress and sleep deprivation. They were growing annoyed with crying, and started to threaten to shoot children and mothers if they kept crying.

At this point, it is prudent to explain that there were other atrocities going on behind the scenes. According to survivors, schoolgirls and teachers were sexually abused, raped and some eventually shot. A 15-year old girl says: “No one talks about it openly but the whole city knows that three teachers and at least four older pupils were raped. There are also stories about younger girls aged only 12 being assaulted.”

Another girl recounts: “I myself saw the four girls in the assembly hall close to the gym being picked out and taken away. The terrified victims, aged just 14 or 15, were in their best summer dresses. I remember the four girls looked very small beside the big Chechen terrorists as they were led out of the room. The Chechens were repulsive — most of them were big, bearded and scary. The girls came back three hours later crying uncontrollably. No one was in any doubt what had happened to them.” The four girls and three teachers were eventually shot by the attackers. One 16-year old boy remembers: “One girl in a white dress was particularly pretty. They told her she was so lovely she would be first to die. She was petrified. I found out later the killers kept their vow. I saw her in an open coffin — her lovely face untouched — at one of the funerals this week. She had been shot in the chest.”

But why the silence? Why is there such little mention of the rapes that occurred during this incident? Sadly, one girl states that “to be raped or even to have sex while unmarried here brings terrible shame not only for the girls but their families. If I had been raped I too would have said nothing. It is a stain no one wants on their honour, no matter what the circumstances.”

September 3rd, 2004:

At about 12:50pm, the attackers agreed to allow medics to retrieve the dead bodies that had been tossed from the building. However, when the medical workers approached the building, they were fired upon and two were killed. Shortly after 1pm, two explosions were heard in the gym and part of a wall was demolished. Many hostages tried to flee through the demolished wall and the attackers opened fire on the fleeing children and parents. It is unknown what caused the initial explosion. Some say it was accidental due to mismanagement of the explosives on the part of the attackers. Others claim a sniper took out an attacker who had a “dead man” trigger. Either way, once the shooting started, Russian forces had no choice but to storm the building. It is reported that the attackers had taken normally fatal amounts of heroin and morphine which allowed them to keep fighting even after being mortally wounded and presumably in great pain. At around 1:30pm the gym roof collapsed from the damage and killed more of the hostages. At 1:40 Russian special forces stormed the gym forcing a group of the attackers to flee the school. More than 100 bodies are found at this point. A group of attackers in the cafeteria and another in the basement fight with Russian forces, using women and children as human shields. By 9:20pm, the number of confirmed deaths rose above 200. 646 people, 227 of which were children, were admitted to area hospitals by this time.

In the end, at least 396 people were killed during the crisis. 334 of these were hostages, 186 of which were children. The death toll also includes 8 police, 2 rescue workers, 11+ special forces soldiers and 31 attackers. There was also an estimated 700+ wounded. It is estimated that 90% of the hostages sustained wounds. The majority of the children were treated for burns, gunshot and shrapnel wounds, and mutilation caused by mines and bombs. Some had to have amputations and eyes removed. Many children were permanently disabled by injuries sustained during their captivity. There is a list of some of the injuries here, but I pulled out some of the more disturbing ones to use as example:

• Tsalikov, Soslan Age: 15
  Mine explosion wound, shell fragment wound of right shin, left hip, injury of lien, liver, stomach, hemopneumothorax on the right side.
• Mukagov, Azamat Age: 2
  Abdominal gunshot penetration wound. Liver wound. Peritonitis. 9/4/2004 the patient was operated. Colostomy and ileostomy were applied. Started to eat. State: improves. With the mother and father at hospital.
• Oziev, Vladimir Age: 8
  Mine explosion wound. Shell fragment wounds of face, arms and legs. Foreign bodies in the left eye-pit, upper third of left hip and lower third of left chin. His mother and 9 year old brother are reported missing.
• Dzandarova, Madina Age: 16
  Mine explosion wound. Barotrauma. Severe brain contusion with with dominating injury of right hemisphere. Partial crushing in frontotemporal lobes. Intradural hemotoma in right frontotemporal region. Cephaledema.
• Igorevna Bkuzarova, Kristina Age: 10
  Mine wound with complications, penetrating gunshot wound of the chest.
• Kazbekovich Kusaev, Fidar Age: 4
  Mine injury, penetrating fragment wound.

Motives:

While part of the attack was supposedly carried out on behalf of Chechen nationalism, the bigger picture was that of Islamic Fundamentalism. According to reports, there was strong Al Qaida ties, and in the words of the sole captured attacker, the attack was specifically aimed at creating tension between the Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the area. He claimed that attacking a school and targeting mothers and young children was not merely coincidental, but was deliberately designed for maximum outrage with the purpose of igniting a wider war in the area. The attackers were trying to incite violence between Muslims and Christians by anticipating a Christian counterattack  against their Muslim neighbors under the name of revenge. Furthermore, it is more than just a coincidence that North Ossetia is the only Christian-majority republic in the area. It can be assumed that this attack was an act of terrorism on behalf of Islamic fundamentalism. Official Russian reports claim that the attack was financed and perpetrated by a transnational Al Qaida group, which is also supported by Chechen claims that they were not involved.

The Aftermath:

In the end, there were nearly 400 dead and over 700 wounded. Only one terrorist had been captured alive, and was later charged and convicted of terrorism, murder, kidnapping and other crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison, however he disappeared in prison and is rumored to be either going under a new name for his own protection or dead. No proof has been offered up regarding his status.

Death. Chaos. Disorder.

This is why we fight.

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