The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia on Thursday over its failure to protect more than 300 people who died when Chechen militants took over a school in Beslan, near the Georgian border in 2004. Ruling in a suit by victims and survivors of those who died, the court ordered Russia to pay 3 million Euros in reparations.
The judges found that Russia failed to prevent the attack "despite intelligence services having specific information of a planned terrorist attack in the area, linked to an educational institution." They said there were "serious shortcomings" in the security operation to end the siege and the level of Russian force was not justified.