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A new war in Chechnya sees the New Zealander Rendt Gorter abandoning a promising SCUBA diving school, and returning once again to the North Caucasus. Heading a large relief operation of a major relief organisation on the ground in Chechnya and Ingushetia, he finds the needed professional distance distracted by having know this haunted land too well when he worked there from 1995 to 1997 during the previous conflict. In this series he reflects on his personal experience in a war that has been largely ignored by the world.
The snow-capped mountains towering over the plains provided a stunning backdrop. The road east running through lines of poplars of lowland Chechnya made for easy travelling.
Easy travelling except for the Russian checkpoints every 5 kilometres or so. The young recruits trying to look the part in the blue uniforms with grenades nonchalantly strapped across chests, only gave away their raw fear with nervous glances over their shoulders and deep bags around the eyes from sleepless nights drowned with vodka. At each stop our military permits were scrutinised, the boxes of medication in the boots of our cars compared against the waybill and our passports leafed through morosely.
But in spite of the columns of military convoys stirring up the dust on the churned roads, little civilian traffic dared to travel. The rumbling of artillery in the distance, served as a crude reminder that the war continued. For two weeks now, numerous Russian columns had vainly tried to flush a band of Chechen fighters from the village of Komsomolskaya. The fighters had arrived one evening, so the refugees recounted, spoken to the elders and requested everyone to abandon their soon-to-be-pulverised homes. Then the Russians came ..
In nearby Stariy Atagi there was plenty of life however. The streets were busy with groups of people. The ubiquitous street vendors showed that life in a way carried on. Afterwards we found out that one reason for the busy feel was the fact that the town of 20,000 had doubled in population as refugees from the mountains arrived to seek shelter.
The small but busy hospital was immaculate. Anderbek, the doctor in charge, welcomed us graciously into wards where every visitor was made to remove shoes before entering. Yes, he remembered me from when MERLIN had rebuilt his burnt-out hospital in 1996 --- even the temporary latrines we had built then were still in place. The other doctors working at the clinic crowded into the small room as we began the routine question session. Like elsewhere in Chechnya, doctors and nurses forced from their usual workplaces had congregated where it was still possible to work. No, of course they could not charge for treating the many patients, but they were nevertheless looked after with food and accommodation by the grateful community.
We left our boxes of essential supplies and promised to return soon.
Hopefully this time it wouldn't take me another 4 years to come back.
On the way back we turned off the main road to enter the village of Alhan Kala. Only much later did I find out that this is where the feared warlord Barayev - the 'Father of the Kidnappers' regularly resides with his fighters, seemingly with the full tolerance of the nearby Russian military post. Alhan Kala had also suffered. A substantial portion of this village at the outskirts of Grozny, showed evidence of destruction. Nevertheless plastic sheets and other temporary materials showed that the owners had attempted to re-create habitable spaces.
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Shamil Basaev, the legendary maverick, called for the Russian prisoners to be brought forward and forced to walk ahead. But commander Dudaev protested, saying this was cowardly and against the Islamic moral code. After a lengthy argument, much expanded by the various story tellers, Basaev walked ahead in disgust and within metres stepped on a mine that took his foot off. Dudaev took the lead next and was killed a few metres on, then another well-known commander took the relay and was also killed in turn. Well over a hundred fighters apparently died in this minefield by the time they had passed through the cross-fire that then ensued.
Nearly two hundred wounded were carried into Alhan Kala village when the remaining fighters emerged from the killing zone. The doctor went to work immediately, amputating at a killing pace to save who could be saved. Hassan in this way became famous for in the course of this also removing what was left of Shamil Basaev's foot.
But soon Russian reinforcements appeared and threatened to overrun the village. A line of armoured vehicles drew up to the edge of the village. New fighting ensued and soon Hassan found himself treating more wounded. Only this time they were Russian soldiers.
By the time the long ordeal had ended, Hassan was arrested by the Russians for 'assisting the enemy'. This only shortly after he escaped the anger of the Chechens for saving Russian lives.
Ah, the story of the doctors in this war ...
This is the fourth in a series of reports from Rendt Gorter, in Chechnya, to the G21.