A military helicopter went down in Russia’s volatile province of Chechnya killing all 17 people on board, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported quoting a source in the military.
Popularity: 21% [?]
April 28, 2007A field commander, Khairulla (Suleiman Imurzayev), has been killed in Chechnya, Russia’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday.
Popularity: 9% [?]
April 4, 2007One Russian citizen was killed and another injured in a bomb explosion in Algeria, Russia’s foreign ministry said Sunday.
Popularity: 13% [?]
March 4, 2007Russian anti-terrorism chiefs have stood down security forces from a state of high alert imposed earlier this week over reports of an imminent attack, an official said on Friday.
Popularity: 4% [?]
January 19, 2007
An exiled Kremlin opponent accused the West on Wednesday of standing by passively as Russia passed laws allowing its agents to hunt down opponents overseas, saying these had led directly to the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, Reuters reports.
Popularity: 8% [?]
December 7, 2006The Interior Ministry is currently monitoring 150 extremist groups in Russia, in particular race-hate groups, which have total membership of around 10,000, the minister said Wednesday.
Popularity: 9% [?]
November 15, 2006A Russian tourist, who tried to take picture against backdrop of Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv was pounced by security personnel, accused of spying, planning terror attack for Hezbollah. Security personnel searched Ekaterina Kopilov’s belongings, interrogated her, and squeezed every bit of desire to return for another vacation in Israel, Ynetnews.com website reports.
Popularity: 8% [?]
November 7, 2006Rescue workers from several NATO countries, Russia and other European nations teamed up Tuesday in the countryside near Rome for anti-terrorism drills, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Some 250 firefighters, police and emergency workers will work for two days on various simulations of attacks combining common explosives and radioactive components that can contaminate large areas.
The drills, held at the Italian firefighters’ training center in Montelibretti, north of Rome, were designed to improve coordination between rescue services of the six participating countries: Italy, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Austria.
“The first response is always from the nation that is attacked, but if there are shortages of equipment or personnel, NATO and other organizations can mobilize additional resources,†said Evert Somer, a spokesman for NATO’s civil emergency planning. “The objective (of the drill) is to learn to work together.â€
The drill, which also tested response to possible events like the use of a “dirty bomb,†is the last in a series of three joint exercises dealing with potential threats from weapons of mass destruction. The previous exercises were held in Russia in 2002 and 2004 to deal with simulated chemical and biological attacks.
The drill on Tuesday morning included this imaginary scenario: two cars, driven by terrorists, crash into a tanker holding fuel and radioactive material, sparking flames and sending up a cloud of black smoke. A team of fire fighters doused the burning vehicles with water and flame-retarding foam, while tending to pretend casualties dressed in green suits to signal radioactive contamination.
Firefighter Andrea Bonetto said the first response team is called the “canary squad,†a reference to the animal once used by miners to alert them to the presence of toxic gases.
“They are the ones who will save many people but will need to be saved themselves later on,†he said.
While the fake wounded were treated and decontaminated, a Russian team brought in a robot that was maneuvered into the blast area to collect radioactive material and store it in a shielded container.
Another drill Tuesday simulated a “dirty bomb†explosion at a convention center in Trieste, a city in northeast Italy near the border with Slovenia.
“There haven’t been many mistakes†in the drills, said Renato Riggio, a senior Italian firefighting official who directed the exercises. “Perhaps we need less emphasis on rescue operations and more on coordinating†rescues.
He said the drill’s usefulness could pay off in case of attacks in border areas.
Popularity: 5% [?]
October 27, 2006Field commander Rizvan Chitigov has been killed in Chechnya during a raid carried out by pro-Moscow security forces and the republic’s Interior Ministry troops, the Itar-Tass news agency cited the republic’s first deputy prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov.
Popularity: 4% [?]
March 23, 2005Russians, still in shock at the Beslan tragedy, have reacted angrily to a music producer’s plans for what he calls a “terror concertâ€, with a female singer dressed as a suicide bomber on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Popularity: 7% [?]
September 9, 2004
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