Civilians get entrapped by their own islamic beliefs and recruited for such missions. Jihad is a large part of you duty as a muslim.
Analise the people who actually took that school hostage. Women in burkas for instance.
Simple matter of fact is, you wanna play those kinda games, don't cry when the repercussions come back to haunt you.
Unfortunately there is truth in this.
The first time the Russians went into they where very unprepared.
The Russian army was still recovering from the collapse of the USSR and was in a terrible state.
Many Russian soldiers where taken prisoner and where shown no mercy with punishments like mass castration, flaying etc.( a Belgium nurse doing mercy work for the Chechen's reported on all this)
The Chechen's fought with gangster tactics showing very little honour in anything.
The second time the Russians went in they where better much prepared and showed no mercy back.