Moscow: Making a surprise pre-dawn visit to the Southern city of Beslan where the school hostage crisis left 250 people dead and over 650 injured, Russian President Vladimir Putin today (Sep 4, 2004) said the militants tried to incite inter-ethnic strife in the region and warned against succumbing to terrorists' provocations.

"The whole of Russia is worrying and mourning with you," Putin said during a meeting with local authorities in the Beslan city of the Republic of North Ossetia.

"One of the goals of the terrorists was to incite inter-ethnic strife and blow up the North Caucasus. All those who give in to terrorist provocations aimed to blow up the North Caucasus will be considered the terrorist act co-operators and the terrorists' accomplices," he was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.

The President said he has ordered the closure of the region's borders as security forces were searching for all those connected with the attack.

"I have ordered that Beslan and State border in North Ossetia be sealed, targeted checks be carried out in order to find out those involved in this terrorist act," he said. Reaffirming that different scenarios had been considered in Beslan but no use of force had been planned, Putin said, "The situation developed very rapidly and unexpectedly."

He said law enforcement officials "showed incredible courage" and sustained heavy losses.