A New Beslan Has Been Averted

A terrorist attack similar to the one launched in Beslan has been thwarted in a special operation conducted in the towns of Makhachkala and Kaspiysk, a top-ranking officer of the counter-intelligence service in the Republic of Dagestan told the press. Nikolay Griaznov, head of the Dagestan branch of the Directorate of the Federal Security Service (DFSS), said operations to liquidate the bandits in those Dagestan towns had been under preparation for quite a long time. "We have been working on operational information, and conducting scores of raids and searches, the DFSS head said. As a result we succeeded in locating the criminal gang who were preparing terrorist attacks".

The bodies of three terrorists have been found so far under the debris of a private home in Makhachkala. The house in the north-western part of the town was completely demolished on Saturday during an assault operation using heavy armor. The gunmen had put up strong resistance to the law-enforcement personnel killing one officer of the "Alpha" detachment and badly wounding another. To save human lives, it was decided to level the house to the ground. A tank that arrived at the battle scene accomplished this task.