Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

104 • CHECHNYAN TERRORISMtwo Russian civilian airliners that had departed from Moscow werebombed in midflight: Volga Avia Express Flight 1303, a Tupolev-134, crashed near Buchalki, 100 miles south of Moscow, en route toVolgograd, with all 43 aboard killed; Sibir Airlines Flight 1047, aTupolev-153, en route to Sochii, crashed near Rostov-on-Don, killingall 46 aboard. The bombers were two Chechen women feigningpregnancy who had been waived inspection by security men, wholater were charged and convicted for having accepted bribes to allowthem on board. Analysis of the wreckage confirmed that the highyieldexplosive hexogen had been used in the in-flight bombings. On31 August 2004 another female suicide bomber attacked the Moscowsubway, killing nine and injuring 50, for which credit was claimed inthe name of the Islambouli Brigades of al Qa’eda.The most infamous attack by Chechen terrorists was the 1–3 September2004 Beslan School siege and massacre in which over 800students of Public School No.1 in Beslan, North Ossetia, were seizedas hostages by at least 30 militants, of whom four were women.Like the Moscow theater siege, the hostage takers planted explosivesthroughout the gym in which over 800 students in grades onethrough eight were being held. They demanded the release of fellowcombatants seized in neighboring Ingushetia and threatened to killthemselves and their hostages if their demands were not met or ifa rescue was attempted. After 53 hours, in which Russian securityforces had barricaded the hostage takers, explosions erupted, anda confused situation ensued in which 335 people, mainly children,were killed and 719 others injured. Only one of the hostage takerswas captured alive. Shamil Basayev claimed credit for this operation,which galvanized censure of the Chechen leader throughout theworld. On 8 September 2004 the Russian government set a bountyof $10 million each for the capture or killing of Shamil Basayev andAslan Maskhadov. Maskhadov was later killed during a raid by Russiansecurity forces on 8 March 2005.Russian authorities protested the 2 August 2005 airing by theAmerican ABC television network of an interview with ShamilBasayev, and the Ministry of Defense press office broke off tieswith ABC. The most ambitious Chechen attack was launched on 13October 2005 upon Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkariaregion in the Caucasus, involving an attempt to seize aircraft in orderto carry out an attack similar to the World Trade Center and