Latest Articles about Terrorism
Network of Jund al-Khilafah in Kazakhstan Wider Than Predicted
On December 29, 2011, 41-year old Yerik Ayazbayev, the leader of a Jund al-Khilafah (JaK – Army of the Caliphate) cell based in the Almaty suburb of Boraldai Village, was killed in the Southern Kazakhstan city of Kyzylorda (Interfax [Astana], December 30). Five of his... MORE
Start of 2012 Sees No Let-Up in North Caucasus Violence
In Dagestan, two policemen were wounded today (January 13) when a police road patrol unit was attacked in the town of Izerbash. A Dagestani law-enforcement source reported that the incident took place shortly after midnight when gunmen driving in a car opened fire on the... MORE
Rebels Battle Security Forces in Chechnya, While Moscow Bolsters the Military in the Republic
In accordance with a tradition that has been in place since 2005, Ramzan Kadyrov rang in 2012 with his estimate of the number of insurgents in Chechnya. Citing numerous operational sources, he stated that there are only 50 or fewer militants left in the republic.... MORE
The American Military Presence and Terrorist Safe Havens in the Southern Philippines
One of the smaller deployments of U.S. troops under the banner of the “global war on terrorism” was that of U.S. Special Forces to parts of the southern Philippines in 2002. This deployment was limited to advising the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in... MORE
Dagestani Commission for Adapting Rebels to Civilian Life Yields Few Results in 2011
The Dagestani government’s commission for adapting rebels to civilian life had mixed results in 2011. The commission was set up in November 2010 to help the government dispel the rising wave of militancy in the largest republic of the North Caucasus. The Dagestani government’s press... MORE
How Pakistan’s Unstable Tribal Areas Threaten China’s Core Interests
With all eyes focused on the consequences for the United States and NATO of the accidental air strikes, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, little attention has been paid to another big player who will be greatly impacted by Pakistan’s refusal to go after militants that... MORE
Putin Signals He Will Stick to the Status Quo in Chechnya
The end of 2011 saw another visit by Vladimir Putin to Chechnya. Putin’s first visit to Chechnya took place on December 31, 1999, while he was still serving as prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin. (Putin visited neighboring Dagestan several months earlier -- in August... MORE
Relocating Syrian Circassians to the North Caucasus Poses Problems and Opportunities for Moscow
The end of 2011 saw a spike in violence in Kabardino-Balkaria. A series of high profile-killings of law enforcement agents followed the killings of several suspected insurgents. On December 31, the commander of a special police unit in Kabardino-Balkaria, Colonel Murat Shkhagumov, was gunned down... MORE
The Twitter War: A New Battleground for Kenya and al-Shabaab
Two months after Kenya launched a military intervention into Somalia in an effort to seize the al-Shabaab stronghold of Kismayu, the Kenyan military and the Somali militants have entered into a new campaign – a propaganda war through Twitter, a popular online social networking service... MORE
Russian Government Displays an Ingrained Lack of Novelty In Dealing With the North Caucasus
On December 15, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held his now traditional annual phone-in press conference. During the phone-in, Putin mentioned the North Caucasus 21 times. It appeared that the Prime Minister still credits himself for bringing Chechnya back under Moscow’s control, as he mentioned the... MORE