MOSCOW, September 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Russian authorities held on Thursday, September 2, talks with an armed group, after it had killed seven of hundreds of hostages  held at a school in North Ossetia.

The heavily armed men and women, some strapped with explosives, held talks in the morning with a well-known pediatrician, Lev Roshal, who helped negotiate the release of children during an early deadly Moscow theater siege in 2002.

The armed group have said they would talk only to regional leaders and Roshal, Reuters reported.

"Roshal is holding talks," North Ossetian Interior Minister Kazbek Dzantiyev told reporters.

"He is the main interlocutor," he added.

But there was no word on the progress of the talks, as previous hostage dramas in Russia have ended with big loss of life.

Dzantiev confirmed that 15 elder pupils at the school had managed to escape so far, three of whom managed to jump out of a window after the raid took place, while another 12 hid in an outhouse and fled later.

The armed group broke into a school in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia on Wednesday, September 1, killing seven people, and herding pupils, parents and teachers into a gym.

Some press reports put at 12 the casualty in the crisis, as the Russian authorities had announced on Wednesday that one of the hostage-takers had also been killed.

Sporadic gunshots and occasional grenade blasts reportedly echoed around the school throughout the morning.

"They have said that for every fighter wiped out, they will kill 50 children, and for every fighter wounded, 20," Dzantiev said.

Reports said the hostage takers want Russian troops to leave Chechnya and the release of Chechen fighters held in Ingushetia.

However, it was not clear who the latest attackers were.

Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has denied that his forces are involved in the siege.

"There are Chechens and Ingushis among the kidnappers. They speak good Russian," Dzantiyev admitted, without elaborating.

On Wednesday night, at Russia's initiative, the UN Security Council condemned the kidnapping and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The 15-member council demanded "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages of the terrorist attack", at a session requested by Moscow.

The hostage ordeal came one day after at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured, when officials said a female bomber blew herself up outside a busy Moscow subway station.

Russia was quick to point the finger for the latest attacks at Chechen fighters, putting up a fierce resistance to Russian forces deployed to the small mountainous Muslim republic.

Chechnya has been ravaged by conflict since 1994, with just three years of relative peace after the first Russian invasion of the region ended in August 1996 and the second began in October 1999.

At least 100,000 civilians and 10,000 Russian troops are estimated to have been killed in both invasions, but human rights groups have said the real numbers could be much higher.

Moscow has refused to withdraw from Chechnya, as human rights groups have accused Russian soldiers of committing aggressions and abuses in the republic during the two massive invasions.