During a visit to Kabardino-Balkaria on February 9, Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, tried to reassure the region’s government and public of Moscow’s support against the growing insurgency in the beleaguered republic. At a meeting with a group of 200 students in... MORE

In a sign of the degree to which the security situation in parts of the North Caucasus has deteriorated, Russia’s railway system has ordered that passenger trains will no longer travel through Chechnya and Dagestan at night.A source in the press service of Russian Railways... MORE

In 2010, the western part of the North Caucasus, comprised of the territories of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Adygea and the adjacent Black Sea littoral, gave little sign that it was following the pattern of events in the rest of the North Caucasus. In this part of the... MORE

Speaking to parliament on November 20, 2010, Somali Prime Minister Muhammad Abdullahi Muhammad vowed to clear the streets of Mogadishu of al-Shabaab fighters during his first 100 days in office if the MPs approved his cabinet. [1] No less than 92 MPs, including Hawo Abdullahi,... MORE

The bus bombing in Makati City (Metro Manila) that killed five passengers and wounded 13 others on January 25 has forced the Philippines to reevaluate the terrorist threat in that country. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) believed that Metro Manila was secure, but... MORE

On February 7, the leader of the North Caucasian insurgency, Doku Umarov, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on January 24, which killed 36 people and wounded over 100. In an unusually politicized and polemic video address posted on the... MORE

On February 5, it came to light that Magomed Gamzatov, the outspoken leader of the Didoi (aka Tsez) minority in Dagestan, died under suspicious circumstances. The Didoi people and Gamzatov made headlines in Russia in December 2010, when they requested protection from the Georgian government... MORE

The return of Muqtada al-Sadr to Iraq after more than three years of self-imposed exile and his unexpected January 21 departure for Iran only two weeks later have provoked speculation over the security implications of his activities in Iraq and his precise relations with Iran... MORE

Insurgency-related violence –and, apparently, simple criminal violence– continued in the North Caucasus this week, particularly in the republics Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan.In Kabardino-Balkaria, four gunmen charged into a café in the town of Chegem on February 2 and shot a group of traffic policemen who were... MORE

Amid reports by the Russian government that militant activity in Kabardino-Balkaria has increased four to five times (www.rosbalt.ru/2010/11/29/794929.html) –more than anywhere else in the North Caucasus region– local authorities are trying to belittle the role of rebel fighters against the backdrop of economic plans for... MORE