Remembering Beslan, the AFP Way

Sat, Sep 3, 2005 at 8:09:50 am PDT

Here’s an AFP story about the anniversary of the horrific slaughter of children in Beslan, Russia, by Islamic terrorists from Chechnya—in which the word “Islam” does not appear: Minute of silence marks anniversary of Beslan hostage bloodbath.

BESLAN, Russia (AFP) - Stifling anguished cries, survivors of the Beslan tragedy and relatives of more than 300 dead hostages observed a minute of silence at the ruins of School Number One on the anniversary of the disaster.

Gathering under rain clouds, mourners stood in and around the ruins of the school to observe a minute of silence at 1:05 pm (0905 GMT), the precise moment when Russian rescue forces a year ago launched a chaotic attempt to rescue more than 1,100 hostages.

Only the sound of sobbing interrupted the silence.

Then white balloons were floated into the dark sky, one for each of the 319 hostages who perished, including 186 children, and 12 servicemen. All but one of the 32 gunmen, who had been demanding an end to the war in Chechnya, were also killed in the battle.

See, they were just anti-war militants, and all those children and hostages just perished. Somehow. In a tragedy.