In the wake of hostile exchanges between the Chechen and Ingush governments that started in late July, relations between the two republics could again seriously deteriorate following Chechen law enforcement actions on Ingush territory. Back in July, according to the Ingush side, an accidental explosion... MORE

On August 28, Dagestan’s President Magomedsalam Magomedov presided over an extraordinary joint meeting of the Security Council of Dagestan and the Coordination Council for Law Enforcement in Dagestan. The leader of the republic unexpectedly proposed the idea of establishing self-defense units in the republic (https://05.mvd.ru/news/302958/).... MORE

August ended with fresh casualties among both civilians and law enforcement personnel in Ingushetia. According to independent estimates, there were 44 casualties in Ingushetia in August—19 killed and 25 injured. Of the 19 people killed, nine were law enforcement officers, seven were rebels and three... MORE

Kazakhstan has experienced a rise in militant activity carried out by Salafist groups on its territory and periphery since late 2011. The Salafists’ rejection of secularism and other types of Islam and their call for a return to the ways of the Salaf, or pious... MORE

Great uncertainty continues to shroud the ideological composition of the insurgency that is raging across Syria. The motivations of the rank-and-file of the Free Syrian Army (FSA - the armed wing of the Syrian National Council [SNC] opposition movement) and the constellation of factions that... MORE

Two recent events seem to have shaken the Haqqani Network to its core—the death of Badruddin Haqqani and the group’s designation as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) by the United States. According to a Pakistani journalist based in the Tribal Areas, the death of Badruddin... MORE

On August 28, one of the most respected spiritual leaders of Dagestan of the past century, Said Atsaev, was murdered in the village of Chirkei, located 25 kilometers northwest of the city of Buinaksk. Better known as Sufi Sheikh Said Efendi Chirkeisky, Atsaev was a... MORE

On August 19, a suicide bomber attacked the funeral of a police officer in the village of Sagopshi in Ingushetia’s Malgobek district. Seven police officers were killed in the attack and at least 15 other people were wounded, nine of them seriously. Ilez Korigov, the... MORE

Over 22 years of fighting for a variety of rebel-movements and national governments, General Bosco “The Terminator” Ntaganda has established himself as the leading warlord in the little-known Nord-Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Nord-Kivu region is at the heart... MORE

One of the principal power brokers in Yemen is Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.  As leader of the Hashid tribal federation, the strongest and second largest in Yemen, al-Ahmar is an individual of unique power. It was via his ability to control both the levers of legitimating... MORE