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Chechen rebels were shot in the head while in sleep: Report

As Moscow limps back to normalcy after the three-day hostage drama in a local theatre, details of the special forces' operation to liberate over 750 captives are gradually coming to light.

The operation ended with the killing of 50 hostage-takers, including 18 women, and 118 hostages.

The women suicide bombers were shot in the temple while they were asleep under the affect of the sedative gas used by the special forces, a Web site reported.

"Our commandos simply entered the hall and shot down at point-blank the sleeping terrorists. In the temple. I understand that this is cruel, but when the person has two kilograms of plastic explosives strapped on his body, we did not see any alternative, especially when panic had broken out in the hall," www.newsru.com quoted an officer of the special forces as saying.

It was a "textbook" operation, he claimed.

The sleeping gas was pumped into the ventilation system and some gas grenades were lobbed into the hall where the captives were being held.

Due to lack of coordination between police and secret service commandos, some of the gunmen in the corridors opened fire and the hostages who were still awake rushed outside in panic, the report said.

"The police commandos opened fire at the hall balconies, but I think no one was hit. But in the confusion some rebels managed to slip out," he said.

The officer said the rebels had several informers outside, who were reporting everything to them on mobile phones. However, from the very beginning the secret services were keeping track of them.

Earlier, Kommersant daily had reported in the days of the standoff that attentive mobile users in the vicinity of the theatre could notice the sign of an open lock on the screens of their cell phones.

At the request of the security services, GSM operators had switched off signal scrambling at their transponders in the area, and secret service agents and ordinary hackers could easily monitor every incoming and outgoing call.

In spite of the high death toll, the foreign anti-terror agencies described the operation as "unique" and highly successful, local media reported.

It was the first time that sleeping gas was used to free hostages. However, hundreds of people who were held hostage are undergoing treatment for after-effects.

According to ITAR-TASS, congratulatory messages are pouring in at the Federal Security Bureau.

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