August 2010 saw violent incidents all across Russia’s North Caucasus region, above all in Dagestan, where rebels and Russian police dealt heavy blows to each other. On August 21, forces from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and local police supported by army units conducted a... MORE

The death toll from the September 9 suicide bombing in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, rose today (September 10) to 18 (a toll that includes, according to some reports, one suicide bomber) with the number of wounded put at 158, more than 100 of whom remain hospitalized.... MORE

On September 5, a suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives attacked a Russian infantry military training camp near Buinaksk in Dagestan. According to official sources, four servicemen died in the attack and 35 were injured. Policemen who arrived at the site of the... MORE

On August 29, Chechen President, Ramzan Kadyrov’s, home village Tsentoroi (aka Khosi-Yurt) was attacked by a group of militants. Initial reports said there were ten casualties among the attackers and two among Kadyrov’s forces (RIA Novosti, August 29). Russian official sources stated that five civilians... MORE

Since the end of 2009, reports coming from the republic of Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus region have mentioned the name of the Gubden-based rebels’ leader, Magomedali Vagabov, more often than ever before. Background  Known among the North Caucasus rebels as Amir Sayfullah of Gubden... MORE

On August 12, an apparent arson attack in Khuchada, a village in Dagestan’s Shamilsky district, sparked a fire in the home of the imam of the local mosque, killing him, his wife and their three children (www.newsru.com, August 12). On August 11, the first day... MORE

This past week brought little clarity as to whether Doku Umarov in fact resigned or not from his position as the leader of the North Caucasus rebels. It still remains unclear who suggested to Umarov that he cancel the announcement he himself had made earlier... MORE

On August 10, members of NGO’s, rights activists, journalists and friends of Zarema Sadullaeva and Alik Dzhabrailov gathered for a small ceremony of remembrance in Grozny. Unidentified law enforcement members led Sadullaeva and Dzhabrailov out of their office in Grozny on August 10, 2009. The... MORE

Muhammad (Asiyalo) Amin ibn Hajjio al-Honodi al-Daghestani, Shamil's third naib, was the most significant deputy of the imam in the Northwest Caucasus in the mid 19th century. He occupied an important role in Circassian social, religious and political life for more than a decade (1848-1859),... MORE

Russian Transportation Minister, Igor Levitin, toured the North Caucasian republics from July 31 to August 3. During that visit he announced several highway reconstruction projects, and unveiled plans for consolidation of the air transport industry in the North Caucasus. At the same time, however, he... MORE