Latest Articles about North Caucasus
Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat Suffers Series of Setbacks
Events in the Republic of Dagestan—one of the most unstable republics in the North Caucasus region—are again demanding attention. This time, however, what is noteworthy are not the usual reports of daily armed clashes, but the news propagated by the Russian mass media concerning the... MORE
Ingush President Accuses U.S. of Seeking to “Undermine the Caucasus”
In an interview published February 9 in the bi-weekly Novaya Gazeta, Ingushetia’s President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov accused U.S. and British intelligence of attempting to “destroy Russia” by sending terrorists to “Russia’s south.” In another interview published on February 9, with the weekly magazine Kommersant-Vlast, Yevkurov charged... MORE
Rebels and Pro-Moscow Forces in Shoot-Out near Chechen Village
Russian news agencies reported on February 9 that one Chechen Interior Ministry officer was killed and two wounded in a battle that took place that day between Chechen law-enforcement personnel and members of “illegal armed formations” in southeastern Chechnya. Citing Chechnya Interior Ministry, Interfax reported... MORE
Zakaev Rejects Kadyrov’s Invitation
Akhmed Zakaev, the London-based prime minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) government-in-exile, responded to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s claim in an interview published the previous day that he had spoken to Zakaev about conditions for his return to Chechnya. Zakaev told the... MORE
Austrian Prosecutors Were Investigating Israilov’s Charges against Kadyrov
Austrian prosecutors said on February 10 that they have investigated Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for alleged torture and other abuses in Chechnya based on a criminal complaint filed in Austria by Umar Israilov, the former rebel-turned-Kadyrov-bodyguard who was shot to death in Vienna on January... MORE
Salafi-Jihadis Turn Their Attention to the North Caucasus
In his recent audio tape expressing sympathy with the people of Gaza, the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, named Chechnya as one of the Muslim areas that have been oppressed by the superpowers of the world order. While this is a normal position for... MORE
Kadyrov Courts Akhmed Zakaev
The end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 were marked by yet another flurry of media reports surrounding the key Chechen resistance movement political figure, Akhmed Zakaev.Zakaev is the former commander of the Chechen resistance during the first military campaign of 1994-1996 and subsequently... MORE
Rebels in Ingushetia Target Police and Servicemen
Interfax reported on February 3 that a bomb blast damaged a police car in the village of Surkhakhi in Ingushetia’s Malgobek district. A law-enforcement source told the news agency that the improvised explosive device, which consisted of 400 grams of TNT, a mobile phone and... MORE
Militants and Police Official Killed in Dagestan as Ethnic Tensions Rise
Three militants were killed by security forces during a special operation in the village of Leninkent near Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala on February 5. Itar-Tass quoted Dagestani Deputy Interior Minister Magomed Gazimagomedov as identifying the three slain militants as Arslan Aldaev, Makhach Magomedov and Gadzhimurad Kamalutdinov—the... MORE
Kadyrov’s Spokesman Defends Zakaev
On January 29, the spokesman for the Chechen president and government, Lema Gudaev, responded to press reports quoting the Federal Security Service (FSB) as accusing Akhmed Zakaev, the London-based prime minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI), of setting up his own armed... MORE