- MOSCOW (Reuters) - Masked
men in military fatigues blew up the family home of one of 50 Chechen rebels
killed after they seized a Moscow theater and held hundreds of people hostage
last month, Russian media said on Friday.
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- The group of heavily-armed men arrived late on Thursday
at the home of one of several young female guerrillas who took part in
the theater siege. They evacuated two women and two children from the house
before the blast.
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- There was no acknowledgement from Russian army that it
was involved in the demolition in the village of Achkoi-Martan, southwest
of Grozny, capital of the turbulent Caucasus republic of Chechnya.
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- But the incident recalled tactics employed by Israel,
which has demolished homes of families of militants who have carried out
suicide bombings against the Jewish state.
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- "Whoever did this -- Russian troops or rebels --
this is first and foremost a crime against the unfortunate people who live
there," said Aslanbek Aslakhanov, the deputy who represents Chechnya
in the Russian parliament.
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- In a cautious statement, Kremlin human rights commissioner
Oleg Mironov said: "The blasting of a house...leaves a problematic
impression and clearly has a political message.
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- "Such a terrible response to a terrorist act tells
us that people have lost patience and want a peaceful life," Mironov
said in the statement quoted by Interfax news agency.
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- The theater siege brought Chechnya back onto the Russian
political agenda. It ended when Russian forces stormed the building, but
some 128 hostages died, most of them from gas used by the troops to immobilize
the guerrillas.
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- President Vladimir Putin has since called for "new
approaches" to deal with security challenges and Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov has announced tough new measures to rein in rebels in Chechnya.
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- But Putin warned last week that all operations in the
region should be "well-directed and targeted," a clear condemnation
of the massive use of force and brutal sweep operations condemned by Western
governments and human rights monitors.
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- Rights group Amnesty International urged the European
Union on Friday to confront Putin over the issue at a Brussels summit scheduled
for November 11.
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- Moscow, which has been fighting separatists in the Caucasus
for the best part of a decade, says it controls Chechnya after a second
military onslaught launched in October 1999. But troops and pro-Moscow
officials are targeted by rebels almost daily.
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- A Russian servicemen was killed and three were injured
late on Thursday when their car hit a mine in the Achkoi-Martan region,
Interfax said.
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