Russian school carnage - Putin must find way to end conflict

EVERY parent, especially anyone with a child at school, will identify intensely with the grief of Russian families as the death toll mounts after the violent and bloody ending of the school hostage crisis.

As the carnage soared to more than 150 dead last night, the horrific scale of this tragedy and the absolute futility of terrorism were impressed forcefully upon the Russian people and the whole world.

Sadly, with more than 400 wounded in hospital, including 220 children, many with limbs torn off by grenades, the toll will continue to rise.

A groundswell of sympathy goes out to the numbed and grieving families painfully coming to terms with the awful tragedy of Breslan.

That the siege would terminate in an orgy of violence and bloodshed became inevitable the longer it dragged on at the school where, since Tuesday, heavily-armed Chechen hostage-takers held upwards of 1,000 children, parents and teachers at gunpoint.

But few could have anticipated the total mayhem and chaos that erupted when gunfire and explosions went off as a deal brokered with the terrorists collapsed after security forces moved in to remove bodies from the school yard.

The sheer turmoil that ensued suggests the Russian special forces were ill-prepared for what happened. Seemingly, it was a spontaneous decision to storm the building when the terrorists began firing.

Things spiralled out of control despite President Vladimir Putin’s insistence on a softly-softly approach to avoid a repetition of the Moscow theatre debacle where security forces gassed 129 innocent people in 2002.

As yesterday’s tragedy unfolded, the roof caved in amid a series of explosions. In heart-rending scenes, terrified children fled the school. Lacking food and water they had been stripped to their underwear to avoid dehydration in the intense heat.

Because of the high casualty figures and the unplanned nature of the assault, blame will focus on the security forces rather than Mr Putin.

But when the victims are buried, the Russian leader will come under international and domestic pressure to resolve the Chechen problem once and for all.

The fact that some hostage-takers escaped, to regroup with fellow Muslim terrorists in their war of terror against Russia, means the crisis is far from over.

As evidenced by a spate of terrorist atrocities, from the Breslan catastrophe to bombings on the streets of Moscow, the capacity of Chechen rebels to cause mayhem almost anywhere in Russia remains undiminished.

Some Chechens have been fighting for independence since the 19th century expansion of Russian rule in the region. The immediate priority must be to bring law and order to the powder-keg Caucuses.

Given the failure of the hard-line Putin policy of ‘no compromise’ on the vexed question of Chechen independence, there is need for wider debate on the issue. His handling of this siege suggests there will be no immediate change in the Putin strategy.

Yet, despite his vow not to negotiate with terrorists, the killings cannot go on.

In view of the appalling scale of the Breslan school atrocity, and with the grim prospect of more violence to come, the toughest challenge facing Mr Putin will be to peacefully resolve the question of minorities within the Russian federation.

The barbaric acts of terrorism and murder witnessed this week must be condemned outright.

This deep human tragedy should put an end to any lingering support for the cold-blooded monsters behind Chechen nationalism. No cause can justify the slaughter of innocent children.