RUSSIA: Russia is investigating whether the fire that engulfed Beslan High School last year, leading to the deaths of more than 300 children, was started not by terrorists but by army fire.
Prosecutors say commandos fired a bazooka-type weapon, the Shmel, into the school hall as they battled Chechen terrorists holding hostage more than a thousand children, parents and staff.
Human rights groups want to know if these rockets started the fire that tore through the roof, bringing it down on the hostages.
The Beslan massacre was the worst atrocity of the Chechen war. It came after a three-day siege at the high school, in which at least 33 Chechen terrorists held pupils and adults prisoner.
Land mines were rigged on wires above their heads, ready for instant detonation in case the army stormed the building. On the third day, an explosion ripped through the school, triggering a gun battle.
Special forces, caught by surprise, blew a hole in the school wall, charged through and blew a second hole in the wall of the gym. A fierce exchange of fire followed while commandos struggled to drag children out. This gunfire is the centre of the controversy.
The Shmel is a shoulder-launched weapon that fires a rocket loaded with a liquid explosive that detonates into a searing fireball. Discarded Shmel launchers were found at the scene but prosecutors have only just announced they were used against terrorists in the gym.
Moscow human rights group Memorial said the fierce heat of such detonations would explain the speed with which the gym's wooden roof was engulfed.
"The question is why was the roof on fire," Memorial's Alexander Cherkasov told The Irish Times. "The Shmel capsule contains liquid which engulfs. The temperature of the flame is so high that bodies are completely consumed."
The use of fuel-air weapons in the proximity of civilians is banned by a 1980 treaty, said Memorial.
The origin of the gym fire is the latest controversy to hit investigations into the Beslan killings. Parents are angry with the government for understating the number of youngsters trapped.
The trial of the sole surviving terrorist, Nur-Pashi Kuylayev, has produced fresh controversy. He said the explosion happened after an army sniper killed a terrorist who had his foot on the trigger of an improvised bomb.
The results of a full commission of inquiry are due in September, coinciding with the anniversary of the tragedy.