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Barayev's
Fellow Villagers Complain of Incessant Russian Aggressions
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Chechens in Alkhan-Kala stand amid ruined buildings, destroyed by Russian air and artillery strikes
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ALKHAN
KALA, Chechnya, November 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Ever
since a group of Chechen independence fighters seized a theater in
central Moscow last month, the residents of Alkhan Kala say they have
been paying for the acts of chief hostage-taker Movsar Barayev.
The
relative calm in Barayev's hometown during the day disappears by
nightfall, when Russian troops comb the village, beating and
kidnapping people as they go, residents lamented.
"From
evening to morning, the village is (full of) military vehicles,
especially the west of the village where Movsar Barayev lived,"
Tumisha Ismaylova said.
"I
don't think that we are guilty of this hostage-taking," she said.
"If
Barayev's accomplices live here, the operation to capture them should
be carried out legally, without violating human rights."
Residents
of Alkhan Kala, which lies just 10 kilometers (six miles) southwest of
the Chechen capital Grozny, said that several days ago two night
workers at a local sawmill were picked up by a military patrol and
severely beaten.
One
of the men, Adlan Tagayev, was later released, but his co-worker
Alavdi Magamadov has not been seen since.
Residents
added that that Russian forces, who maintain a base a few hundred
meters (yards) north of the village, regularly and randomly shoot at
houses as soon as night falls.
Accusations
of human rights violation are regularly leveled against Russian
troops, who swept into the southern republic of Chechnya in October
1999.
The
Chechen war was thrust back into the spotlight on October 23, when a
group of Chechen independence fighters led by Barayev took some 800
people hostage at a theater in central Moscow, demanding an end to the
Russian occupation of their country.
A
total of 129 hostages died in the three-day siege, most if not all of
them from the effects of a powerful gas pumped into the theater by
Russian special forces to subdue the hostage-takers before they raided
the compound.
All
41 hostage-takers, including Barayev, were also killed while asleep.
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