On November 14, the Federal Security Service (FSB) introduced a counterterrorism operation regime in the forested mountainous parts of Kabardino-Balkaria’s Chegem and Baksan districts and in parts of the town of Baksan. However, the following events cast doubt on the regime’s usefulness. The regime was... MORE

Dagestan’s Interior Ministry reported today (November 11) that security forces yesterday (November 10) had detained a local resident with an improvised explosive device on the outskirts of the city of Buinaksk. A ministry source was quoted as saying that police unsuccessfully tried to stop a... MORE

On November 7, the European parliament in Brussels observed Circassian Day. The event focused on Circassian diaspora organizations, their problems and expectations in relation to the European parliament. In attendance were diaspora groups from European countries, but also substantial Circassian delegations from the United States... MORE

Dagestan’s Interior Ministry reported today (November 4) that two residents of Dagestan’s Tlyaratinsky district had been arrested for illegal possession of weapons. Hundreds of rounds of ammunition and explosives were seized from a 49-year-old resident of the village of Tlyarat, while ammunition and a sniper’s... MORE

Clan identity and Islam are central pillars of Somali society, with clan dynamics and inter-clan rivalries magnified by decades of state collapse.  Al-Shabaab - the dominant Islamist militia controlling much of southern and central Somalia - claims to “transcend clan politics,” yet reality on the... MORE

The recent murder of the Tabasaran sheikh of the Naqshbandi order, Sirajuddin Israfilov, has been extensively discussed in the North Caucasian media. Israfilov came from the village Khurik and so was better known as Sirajuddin Khuriksky. The Tabasarans are one of the highlander peoples of... MORE

On October 23, the Russian military command called on the insurgents in Kabardino-Balkaria to surrender, promising fair trials and assistance with adapting to civilian life. The Russian military even consented to hear “constructive proposals” by rights activists that they be allowed to participate in investigations... MORE

One of the key figures in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Qaeda’s North African franchise, is Abou Zeid. Though there is no agreement on his precise given name, it has recently emerged that his real name is likely Mohadem Ghadir, which surfaced among certain... MORE

Unidentified gunmen yesterday (October 27) fired on a group of Interior Ministry servicemen and policemen in the village of Bairam-Aul in Dagestan’s Khasavyurt district. The incident took place as the servicemen were conducting a reconnaissance mission on the outskirts of the village. One of the... MORE

On October 18, the Supreme Court of Karachaevo-Cherkessia concluded a trial of a group of 29 suspected militants. The process became the most massive case of imprisonment of alleged North Caucasus rebels in recent times, but it received surprisingly little coverage in the Russian press.... MORE