A Long History of Chechen Terror Attacks

Since Russia sent troops to the breakaway state of Chechnya in 1994, the region has been ripped apart by violent attacks as the mainly Muslim region in the southern Caucusus fights to sever itself from Moscow. In the last few years, militant separatists have spread their terror throughout Russia, aiming at both officials and the civilian population.

Aug. 31, 2004 -- Car bomb explodes outside Moscow subway station during crowded evening rush hour. Ten people are killed, dozens more are injured.

Aug. 24, 2004 -- Two Russian passenger planes crash within a few minutes of each other, killing 90 passengers and crew. The first machine type TU-134 was on its way to Wolgograd and crashed to the south of Moscow. The second machine, a Tupolew 154, was on its way to Sotchi and crashed near Rostow.

Jun. 22, 2004 -- Chechen separatists storm a building belonging to the Interior Ministry in the neighboring Russian state of Ingushetia and open fire on neigbouring buildings. At least 92 poeple are killed, among them the Interior Minister for the province, Abukur Kostojew.

Feb. 6, 2004 -- 39 commuters die and hundreds are injured in a suicide bombing attack on Moscow's underground. The until now unknown Chechen rebel group, Gasotah Murdasch, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Dec. 9, 2003 -- 6 people die in a bomb attack near the Kremlin in Moscow's city center. At least 13 people are injured.

Dec. 5, 2003-- A bomb explodes in a commuter train near the Jessentunki station, in the south of Moscow, killing 46 poeple and injuring 146.

Sept. 3, 2003 – Suicide bombers target a packed early morning commuter train traveling near Kislovodsk in the southern region bordering Chechnya. Two bombs explode killing 6 people. Many of the injured are children and students.

Aug. 25, 2003

– A series of blasts in the southern Russian town of Krasnodar kills 6 people.

Aug. 1, 2003

– A bomb explodes in a military hospital in Mozdok near the border with Chechnya killing 50 people, primarily soldiers.

July 5, 2003

– During a heavily visited outdoor rock festival on the outskirts of Moscow, 20 people are killed when two female suicide bombers detonate dynamite belts they are wearing.

June 5, 2003

– A woman suicide bomber attacks a bus carrying Russian airforce personnel near Chechnya, blowing it up and killing herself and 17 other people.

May 14, 2003

– At least 16 people are killed in a suicide bombing attack during a religious festival east of the Chechen capital of Grozny. Some 145 are wounded.

May 12, 2003

– Two suicide bombers drive a truck laden with explosives into a government complex in Znamenskoye, in northern Chechnya, killing 59 people and injuring many more.

Dec. 27, 2002

– Chechen suicide bombers drive booby-trapped vehicles into the local government headquarters in Grozny, destroying the four-story building in the explosion. About 80 people are killed.

Oct. 23-26, 2002

– Armed Chechen rebels raid a Moscow theater and hold about 800 people hostage until Russian troops storm the building three days later. 129 hostages and 41 guerrillas are killed, many die as a result of the poisonous gas used by the Russian swat team to stun the Chechens.

Aug. 19, 2002

– Chechen rebels shoot down an overcrowded transport helicopter in Chechnya, killing 118 soldiers.

July 2-3, 2000

– Five suicide bomb attacks explode on bases of Russian security forces in Chechnya within a 24-hour period. At least 54 people are killed in the deadliest attack on a police commando dormitory in Argun, near Grozny.

Sept. 1999

– Explosions destroy apartment blocks in Moscow, Buynaksk and Volgodonsk. More than 200 people are killed. Moscow blames the Chechens, who in turn accuse Russian secret services of setting a plot.

Jan. 1996

– Hijackers seize the Russian ferry Avrasya from the Turkish Black Sea port of Trabzon. They threaten to blow up the ship and its 200 passengers, but the incident ends peacefully.

Jan. 1996

– Chechen fighters take hundreds of people hostage in a hospital in Kizlyar in Dagestan, then travel by bus to Pervomaiskoye on the Chechen border. After a relentless attack by Russian air and ground forces, most rebels give up and escape, while many of the hostages are killed.

June 1995

– Rebels hold hundreds of people hostage in a hospital in the southern Russian town of Budennovsk. More than 100 people die in the course of the rebel assault and a botched Russian commando raid. The rebels are allowed to leave for Chechnya in a bus convoy after five days, in exchange for releasing the hostages.