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EU court faults Russia for 'serious failings' in a 2004 siege that killed 186 schoolchildren

The EU court of Human Rights has ruled that there 'serious failings' in the 2004 Russian school siege.

A woman lights candles in front of victims' portraits in the burned-out gymnasium of Beslan's School No. 1.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that there were "serious failings" in how Russia handled the 2004 Beslan school siege that left hundreds dead.

The court said that Russian authorities did not take necessary preventative steps to save lives and that their use of tank cannons, grenade launchers, and flame throwers contributed to many of the casualties among the hostages.

The court also said that they failed to increase security before the attack, despite the many threats against schools in the area.

More than 330 people — including 186 children — were killed, and 750 more were wounded in the assault. Thirty-one rebels were also killed.

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ordered Russia to pay 3 million euros. Moscow called the ruling "absolutely unacceptable."

On the morning of September 1, 2004, about 30 Chechen radical Islamic rebels — some wearing explosive belts — stormed the school in North Ossetia, starting a 52-hour long standoff. They took more than 1,100 people hostage, locked hundreds of them into the gymnasium, and opened fire on police.

The rebels then rigged the gymnasium with explosives and demanded the release of Chechen rebels detained in the republic of Ingushetia and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.

The next day, the president of Ingushetia negotiated the release of 15 children and 11 women, but just after midnight, rebels detonated two grenades.

At 1:08 p.m. on September 3, more explosions and gunfire were heard before some hostages escaped.

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After 2 p.m., Russian special forces entered the school and confusion ensued for hours. Some local armed residents even took part in the assault.

On September 4, Chechen warlord

The attack was one of many that Russia endured in the 1990s and 2000s — many of them related to the insurgency in Chechnya. The Chechen rebels began as a separatist group but later turned into an Islamist organization.

The northern part of the Caucus region — which includes the Russian republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia — is one of the largest sources of foreign jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Watch hostages flee from the Beslan school:

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