Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

102 • CHECHNYAN TERRORISMOn 9 May 2002 a remotely detonated antipersonnel mine explodedduring a Victory Day parade in Kaspyisk, in the Daghestan region ofRussia, killing 41 people, including 17 children and 18 members ofthe military band in the parade, and injuring 130 other bystanders. On19 August 2002 Chechen rebels used an Igla ground-to-air shoulderfiredmissile to down a Russian military Mi-26 transport helicopterin Grozny, killing all 119 onboard. On 20 August 2002 a bombing ofan apartment complex in a northeastern district of Moscow destroyedall four stories of the middle section of the complex, killing eightresidents. On 26 September 2002 about 300 Chechens crossed intoIngushetia from the Pankisi Gorge area in Georgia in an attack onGalashki in which 80 of the attackers were killed along with 14 Russiansoldiers. Russia accused Georgia of supplying the Igla missilesto the Chechens, which allowed them to destroy several Russian helicoptersin the next three years, and demanded the extradition of 13Chechens wanted for attacks within Russia. On 4 October 2002 Georgiaextradited five of them and held the remaining eight in prison.During the evening of 23 October 2002, about 42 Chechens,of whom 19 were females, seized more than 800 hostages in theMoscow theater siege. On 26 October 2002, when Russian forcessurrounding the theater heard gunfire erupting, they incapacitatedthe attackers and hostages with narcotic fentanyl gas, which unfortunatelykilled 127 hostages along with 33 of the attackers. Credit forthe attack was claimed by Basayev.On 30 October 2002 Russia pressured Denmark into arresting AkhmadZakayev, an ambassador-at-large for the Chechen nationalist rebels,but whom Russia accused of involvement with the attacks led byBasayev. Denmark released Zakayev on 5 December 2002 for lack ofevidence that he was involved in terrorism. On 31 October 2002 Russiademanded the extradition from Qatar of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev,an associate of Basayev who had fled Chechnya when Russia besiegedGrozny in 1999, accusing him of complicity in Chechen terrorism andalso alleging he was tied to al Qa’eda. Although Qatar declined toextradite him, both Georgia and Azerbaijan yielded to Russian demandsto close the offices of Chechen separatists in their territories.On 13 February 2004 Yandarbiyev was killed by a bomb hidden inhis car when he was returning from Friday prayers in Doha, Qatar.Two others in the car were killed, and his 13-year-old son was badlyburned and injured. Later, on 30 June 2004, a Qatar court convicted