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Article: Wasteland: endless war continues between Russian soldiers and Chechen rebels.
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- November 29, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MOSCOW, Russia -- On October 23, about 800 people filed back to their seats to watch the second act of a popular musical in a 1,163-seat theater in Moscow. Little did they know that they were about to become part of a terrifying real-life drama.
As the lights dimmed and the curtain rose, more than 40 attackers wearing black masks and camouflage clothing stormed the theater. Some fired weapons into the air. Others rigged explosives to the theater's chairs, pillars, walls, and aisles--enough to blow up the building if Russian troops tried to stop them. From the stage, an attacker yelled, "We are Chechens! We are at war!"
Several hours later, the ...