Ten Chechen Terrorists Get in Japan

Two months after the information appeared, the Japanese authorities still fail to find them
Two months ago, ten Chechen terrorists got in Japan to commit an act of terrorism, Japan's influential magazine Syukan bunsyun reported after an employee of the edition talked to governmental officials and military experts. The latter told, the Japanese Government obtained the information from reliable sources.

According to one of the sources related to the Ministry of Justice, Chechen rebels, who are traditionally called terrorists, penetrated to the Japanese territory; the authorities are making desperate attempts to find them. The source states, main objective of the search operation is to find and neutralize the group of Chechen terrorists as soon as possible.

There is hardly a man in the world who has never heard of Chechnya, Russia's south-western republic fighting for its independence. Clashes between Chechen rebels and Russian servicemen have become violent over the past ten years and claimed lives of dozens of thousands of people. The rebels seek absolute independence of Chechnya where majority of the population are Moslems.

Last time that Chechen terrorists were in particular focus of the world was a hostage taking at Moscow's theatre in October 2002. Chechens took 700 people hostages. During the storm of the theatre, Russian security services used strong sleeping gas as a result of which 100 hostages tragically died.

This is the reason why the Japanese authorities have become particularly anxious about the penetration of Chechen terrorists to the country.

The sources report, the information was provided by security services of different countries that warned their Japanese colleagues of the impendent danger. Nowadays, the Japanese authorities have every reason to be even more anxious as there is no reliable information proving whether Chechen terrorists actually penetrated to the territory of the country or not. The source from the Ministry of Justice adds that Chechens are real professionals who might have entered the country with falsified passports.

Why have Chechen terrorists preferred Japan? Another source from the Japanese Ministry of Justice explains that at first the information obtained by the ministry said the terrorists might attack the Russian embassy in Tokyo and general consulates in Osaka and Sapporo. However, even more alarming reports arrived later. The source lays particular stress to the fact that the terrorist group consists of ten people.

The source adds: "Every military expert knows that ten people are a minimal number to form a military unit. We should also keep it in mind that almost all Chechen are wonderfully trained professionals."
 
Military commentator Taisei Ugaki specifies that every member of this military unit performs some definite function. Some is in command of the group; others are responsible for explosions, communication, weapons or ammunition. Main goal of the terrorists is not clear, only conjectures can be made about the goal, the source says.

Connection of the terrorist group with al-Qaida is another reason for the Japanese authorities to be anxious. According to the recent report of the US Department of State, al-Qaida has sent its instructors to help local terrorists organize attacks at Russians with paralytic gas.

The situation may become really sinister indeed if we recollect information received by a Saudi newspaper two weeks ago. In the report, al-Qaida claimed it was responsible for four explosions in Turkey that had claimed lives of over 50 people. It was asserted that Japan would be the next target for al-Qaida.
 
The Japan Times