Close encounters with Chechens in a decade

Armed Chechen rebels holding up hostage in a theatre in Moscow on Wednesday was the first such attack in the Russian capital in the history ...

Armed Chechen rebels holding up hostage in a theatre in Moscow on Wednesday was the first such attack in the Russian capital in the history of the Russian-Chechen conflict.

Here is a review of the main cases perpetrated in the name of Chechen independence over the last 10 years.

November 8, 1991: A Tupolev 154 plane with 178 people on board, hijacked by Chechen rebels led by Shamil Basayev, and forced to fly towards Ankara. The hijackers finally released their captives in the Chechen capital Grozny.

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From January 9-24, 1996: Chechen gunmen took 2,000 people hostage at Kizlyar in Dagestan, then at Pervomayskaya, on the Dagestan-Chechen border. Death tally: 50-100.

January 16, 1996: Pro-Chechen Turkish gunmen hijacked a ferry on the turkish Black Sea coast. Some 150 passengers, most of them Russians, were held before being released unharmed three days later.

March 15, 2001: A Russian airliner was forced to fly from Turkey to the airport in Medina, Saudi Arabia by three rebels. A hijacker, a stewardess and a Turkish passenger — died when Saudi security forces stormed the plane.

April 23, 2001: Armed pro-Chechen Turkish gunmen took over 200 hostages in an Istanbul hotel to protest against ‘‘bloody’’ attacks in the Chechen republic. The hostage drama ended peacefully.

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July 31, 2001: Thirty people were held near Mineralnye Vody by gunmen calling for Chechen independence. All the hostages were freed by security forces, one of the hijackers killed.

May 4, 2002: An armed man, claiming to be a defender of the Chechen people, took 13 people hostage in a luxury hotel in central Istanbul, before giving himself up to police with no bloodshed after an hour.