05/15/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09885

TERRORIST ATTACK IN DAGESTAN

A terrorist attack in the Russian republic of Dagestan has left at least forty-one dead and more than one-hundred fifty wounded. Of those killed, seventeen were children. Thirty more children were wounded. The anti-personnel mine packed with metal fragments was detonated in the city of Kaspiisk [kahz-PEESK] along a parade route as people were celebrating Victory Day -- the holiday that commemorates the allied victory over Nazi Germany. The blast left mangled bodies and musical instruments scattered all over the street.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Dagestan borders Chechnya, where separatists have been fighting a bloody war for independence from Russia. Russian authorities have speculated that the attack in Dagestan is related to the war in Chechnya, although the investigation is continuing.

Several weeks ago, the Russian security services announced that it had killed an Arab known as Khattab [hah-TAHB]. He was one of the most powerful Islamic militant commanders taking part in the Chechen war. He is alleged to have ties to international terrorists, including Osama bin Laden. Russian officials blame Khattab for some of the most deadly attacks against their army, including a 1996 ambush that killed fifty-three soldiers. The Kaspiisk bombing may have been in retaliation for Khattab’s death.

This is not the first time the people of Dagestan have been struck by terrorism. Last year, a terrorist was sentenced to life in prison for the 1999 bombing of a Dagestan apartment house in which sixty-four people were killed. The blast in the town of Buinaksk [boo-ee-NAHKST] was the first of four apartment house bombings that killed a total of about three-hundred people that year.

The U.S. is saddened by the deaths in Dagestan and has spoken out against this terrorist act. The official spokesman of the U.S. State Department stated immediately after the event: "Our sincere condolences go out to the Russian people and the victims’ families. We strongly condemn this cowardly and violent act." As President George W. Bush said, "No political cause can justify the deliberate murder of civilians." Those guilty of killing so many innocent children, veterans, and others must be brought to justice.