Grozny ballistic missile attack
Grozny ballistic missile attack | |
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Part of the Second Chechen War | |
Location | Grozny, Chechnya |
Date | October 21, 1999 |
Target | Various civilian and government/military targets |
Attack type | Ballistic missile strike |
Deaths | Est. more than 100 instantly |
Injured | About 250 to over 400 |
Perpetrators | Strategic Rocket Forces |
The Grozny ballistic missile attack was a wave of Russian
The attack
The first reports from the region suspected the use of
Two of the missiles exploded outside the city's only functioning
Most of the casualties occurred at the central market, which was filled with hundreds of shoppers at the time of the attack. The victims were not limited to
Aftermath
Many of the blasts' victims were brought to the central Grozny hospital, where doctors operated without electricity. Some of the hundreds of injured, about 100 of them in a
There were further reports of tactical missiles being used on Grozny as the
Responsibility for the attack and the question of its legality
The attack was met with an official
According to a report by the Russian human rights organization Memorial who had analyzed the television footage of the aftermath, an explosion of "one or several compact powerful explosive mechanisms" at ground level in this case is out of the question, as all the vertical elements in the rows of stalls remained standing, while the horizontal ones (tents and overhead covers) were destroyed and broken. In addition, those who were not protected by overhead cover received multiple fragmentation wounds, and the foreground showed the characteristic traces of cassette (cluster) ammunition of so-called "ball bombs" (munitions used in the Tochka missile warheads and intended for destruction of non-protected live forces in large areas). Finally, apparent fragments of "enormous" ground-to-ground missiles and cluster sub-munition canisters were found at the scene (as reported by Babitsky). There were also reports in the Russian media on the use of cassette tactical missiles against "terrorists" in Chechnya earlier that month, which were corroborated by the refugees.[7] "The mosque and the maternity home, about which the Russian officials have chosen to keep silent, are undoubtedly civil objects, the attack of which is explicitly prohibited," Memorial added.[7]
According to Human Rights Watch, the possibility of arms merchants or military installations in the bazaar did not justify "the tremendous amount of force" used against the market in a strike which may have been illegal. In its report titled Evidence of
According to the HALO Trust, "Grozny market ... is a great sprawling area of wooden stalls laid out each morning and packed away in the evenings. It is the equivalent of all your department stores rolled into one. Thus you can buy fresh bread, a TV set, a wedding dress, a bag of nails, and an AK-47 in one open area the size of a couple of sports fields. Each section is clearly marked and the area where weapons are sold is very small and set right against the edge. The center of destruction was some 150 m away from the area set aside for selling weapons. It was right over the clothes and food section. With the use of such munitions in such an area it was impossible not to have foreseen massive collateral damage.[2]
A study by the
World reaction
This section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. (October 2017) |
United States : The White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said that there were "conflicting reports and statements" about the blasts, but "what's clear is that there's a tragic situation there with terrible loss of life."[12][18] U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called the incident "deplorable and ominous" and said that the Russians should have learnt in their previous war in Chechnya that "this kind of violence is not a solution".[13]
comply with the provisions of international humanitarian law prohibiting indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and should therefore immediately desist from carrying out any such attacks in the context of its military offensive in Chechnya [and] take sufficient precautions to protect civilians. In addition to selecting and vetting targets for their genuine military significance, it should give civilians effective advance warning of its attacks - "unless circumstances do not permit" - in compliance with international humanitarian law. Other rules require specific precautions to be taken when launching attacks, including desisting from an attack if it becomes apparent that the objective is not a military one, or the attack risks being disproportionate to the military objective. (...) The Russian authorities should hold comprehensive and impartial investigations into alleged abuses of international humanitarian law such as direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including hospitals and medical vehicles, which have been reported to have occurred in the course of their military offensive in Chechnya. The government should bring all military and government officials responsible for such violations to justice. The Russian government should grant immediately safe access to Chechnya to a team of international investigators to conduct independent investigation into allegations of violations of international humanitarian law, to establish the truth and to identify those responsible.[21]
The
See also
- 1995 Shali cluster bomb attack
- Battle of Grozny (1999-2000)
- Bombing of Katyr-Yurt
- Russian war crimes
- Elistanzhi cluster bomb attack
- OTR-21 Tochka
- Second Chechen War crimes and terrorism
- Terror bombing
- 1999 Grozny refugee convoy shooting
- Baku-Rostov highway bombing
References
- ^ a b c d e Russians in disarray over Grozny strike, The Guardian, October 23, 1999
- ^ a b c d e The October 21, 1999, Cluster Bomb Attack on the Grozny Market, Mennonite Central Committee, 2000 Archived June 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 60 dead as Russian missiles hit Grozny, The Independent, October 22, 1999
- ^ a b c d e Russians at odds over market attack, BBC News, October 22, 1999
- ^ Russian rockets hit Grozny market, The Guardian, October 22, 1999
- ^ a b World: Europe: Rockets blast Grozny, BBC News, October 21, 1999
- ^ a b c d e f g THE MISSILE BOMBING OF GROZNY, OCTOBER 21 1999 Archived 2009-07-29 at the Wayback Machine, Memorial, 26 October 1999
- ^ Open Letter to the United Nations from the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Amnesty International, November 2, 1999
- ^ a b c d Evidence of War Crimes in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch, November 3, 1999
- ^ a b c d Putin contradicts Russian army spokesman on Chechen explosions; Many dead, wounded in Grozny blasts Archived 2007-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, October 22, 1999
- ^ a b Correspondent killed in Grozny rocket attack, Committee to Protect Journalists, November 5, 1999
- ^ a b c d e Blasts in Chechen Capital Unleash New Wave of Refugees, The New York Times, October 23, 1999
- ^ a b World: Europe: Russia tightens noose around Grozny, BBC News, October 23, 1999
- ^ Chechens Believe Russia’s Aim Is to Obliterate Nation, Los Angeles Times, November 07, 1999
- ^ World: Europe: Russia pounds Grozny, BBC News, November 7, 1999
- ^ War Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Chechnya Archived 2011-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Oleg Orlov of Memorial, May 26, 2000
- ^ RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 211, Part I Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 29 October 1999
- ^ a b c d Russia under pressure over Chechnya, BBC News, October 22, 1999
- ^ a b Russia denies deadly attack on Grozny, CBS, November 10, 2000
- ^ Grozny 2000: Urban Combat Lessons Learned Archived 2008-09-14 at the Wayback Machine, Foreign Military Studies Office, July–August 2000
- ^ a b CHECHNYA: FOR THE MOTHERLAND Reported grave breaches of international humanitarian law Archived 2005-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, Amnesty International, December 1, 1999
- The Associated Press, October 24, 1999
External links
- Grozny residents in shock after attack, CNN, October 22, 1999
- Carnage in Chechnya Has West Worried, Time, October 22, 1999
- Victims of a dirty war the West chooses to ignore, The Independent, 3 November 1999
- Russia is committing war crimes and genocide, Society for Threatened Peoples, November 18. 1999
- Clusters of Death: Cluster Munitions Use by Russian Federation Forces in Chechnya, Mennonite Central Committee, 2000
- In Chechnya's Shattered Capital, Survivors See Their Own Reflection, The New York Times, February 17, 2000
- Welcome to Mr Putin's Grozny, The Independent, 18 April 2000
- Silent screams, The Guardian, December 14, 2002
- Russian Warcrimes in Chechnya, 3, YouTube