The killing of the well-known Sufi sheikh Said Chirkeiski by a Russian female suicide bomber has again raised the issue of those in Russia who convert from Orthodox Christianity to Islam. The assassination of the sheikh was carried out by Aminat Kurbanova (maiden last name... MORE

The Somali militant group al-Shabaab gave up its stronghold in the southern port town of Kismayo on September 29 following a Kenyan offensive from the land, air and sea (Radio Mogadishu, September 29; Bar-Kulan Radio [Nairobi], September 29). Kismayo, which is about 328 miles (528 km)... MORE

The experiment in governance by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the allied Ansar al-Shari’a movement that attempted to establish seven Islamic Emirates in southern Yemen ended in July after less than a year. The end came with a massive June offensive against the... MORE

On October 13, Kabardino-Balkaria marked the seventh anniversary of the attack on Nalchik, the republic’s capital. Groups of militants staged simultaneous attacks on the headquarters of the police, Federal Security Service (FSB) and several other agencies in the republic. In the resulting violence, 35 police... MORE

Against the backdrop of a presumably pacified Chechnya, the neighboring republic of Dagestan remains only barely under the government’s control, even formally. In contrast to Chechnya, the Kremlin has stumbled in Dagestan and has been incapable of easing the tensions there as the intense armed... MORE

October in Ingushetia started off in the usual way, with routine shootouts and attacks on military personnel. There were, however, more important events for the republican government to attend to, such as the picketing that the Ingush opposition managed to stage in Moscow. The governor... MORE

On October 6, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Arsen Kanokov held a meeting of his government’s anti-terrorist commission in the town of Baksan. Kanokov met with the parents of suspected insurgents. The town of Baksan was chosen for the meeting because Baksan district is known as... MORE

Beijing and Tashkent have shared concerns and threat perceptions that make them natural allies in coordinating a wide variety of policy decisions. China traditionally has resented the presence of foreign military contingents of hostile and/or competing countries in its neighborhood, fearing possible encirclement and containment... MORE

The news from Dagestan in September was dominated by reports of militant actions, special operations and terror attacks, but the most worrying development has been the occurrence of multiple kidnappings by both security forces and militants. Indeed, kidnappings are the only events that lead people... MORE

The ethnically and culturally complex region of the Fergana Valley is divided among three countries: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz and the Tajik parts of the Fergana Valley are geographically closer to Uzbekistan than to the capitals of their own countries. Tashkent is only... MORE