There has been a recent upsurge in the murders of non-Muslim residents in Ingushetia. On September 11, a Gypsy family was killed in the village of Sleptsovskaya (Ordzhonikidzevskaya). Four days earlier, a Korean family in the village was shot dead by masked gunmen. These brutal... MORE

- Astemirov Named Acting Head of Rebel Sharia Court The separatist Chechenpress news agency on September 8 published several decrees by Dokku Umarov, Chechen rebel leader and president of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, including two that dismissed the chairman of the Ichkerian Supreme... MORE

A Russian serviceman was wounded in a bomb blast in the southern Chechen district of Itum-Kale, Kavkazky Uzel reported on September 12. The incident took place near the village of Gukhoi, where one law-enforcement officer was killed and several wounded in a September 3 rebel... MORE

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov ordered all female governmental officials to, as RIA Novosti put it on September 11, “dress appropriately, strictly in accordance with the republic’s dress code, and be aware of their appearance.” RIA Novosti quoted Kadyrov as saying at a meeting of heads... MORE

A source in an unspecified “Russian law-enforcement agency” told Interfax on September 11 that up to 100 militants, combined into the so-called “Western Resistance Front” and led by Chechen rebel leader Dokku Umarov, are operating in Ingushetia. “Various estimates suggest that between 80 and 100... MORE

Kavkazky Uzel reported on September 11 that the heads of Ingushetia’s law-enforcement bodies had met on September 8 to discuss “additional measures to stabilize the situation in the republic.” According to sources in the republic prosecutor’s office, Ingushetia’s chief prosecutor, Yury Turygin, said during the... MORE

This past week saw no letup in the wave of violence that has swept Ingushetia in recent months. A traffic police officer was shot dead by unknown assailants near Nazran on September 12, RIA Novosti reported. “The assault took place in the early hours near... MORE

The sharp growth of rebel attacks in Ingushetia this summer has provoked a wave of criticism against Murat Zyazikov, the Ingush president. Many people in Russia have once again started to talk about the Ingush leader’s possible resignation. On August 30, the Gazeta newspaper published... MORE

- Gas Pipeline Hit in Kabardino-Balkaria An explosion near the village of Elbrus in Kabardino-Balkaria put a gas pipeline out of commission, Kavkazky Uzel reported on September 6. The website quoted an unnamed source in the press center of the Southern Federal District branch of... MORE