SVBIED on Ingush President Yunus Bek Yevkurov
Bomber Strikes Kremlin's Chief of Restive Province, by Allan Cullison. The Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2009.
Quote:
The attack on Mr. Yevkurov was more sophisticated than other recent strikes on government officials, who have been mostly lower-level functionaries with little protection. Mr. Yevkurov's motorcade was struck Monday as the Ingush president was being driven to work near the regional capital of Nazran. The bomber maneuvered an explosives-laden Toyota sedan past a police escort before detonating it near Mr. Yevkurov's armored Mercedes. The blast killed two of his bodyguards. It left Mr. Yevkurov in "serious condition" with a concussion and broken ribs, said his spokesman, Kaloi Akhilgov.
Quote:
The attack, he said, was apparently timed to coincide with the five-year anniversary Monday of a daring rebel raid on the Ingush capital of Nazran, when Chechen and Ingush gunmen briefly seized the city and killed nearly 100 police and security officials.
The Kremlin has been using Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of nextdoor Chechnya, for its regional dirty work. Kadyrov has a pet tiger, reportedly keeps a dungeon in his basement, and hangs out with Mike Tyson; he's a real sweetheart. And it looks like the Kremlin is going to set him loose on the insurgents:
Quote:
On Tuesday Mr Kadyrov said he had been ordered by Russia's Dmitry Medvedev to run operations in both countries.
He told Reuters: "He told me to intensify actions... including in Ingushetia. I will personally control the operations... and I am sure in the near future there will be good results."
Another Murder in Russia's Secret War
This hasn’t been officially linked to N. Caucasus – yet
An IED attack 200 miles northwest of Moscow killed 26 people and injured 100 last Friday, when it derailed three cars on a high-speed train running from Moscow to St Petersburg. There are reportedly no credible claims of responsibility so far.
The same rail line was targeted by bombers in 2007 in an attack that injured 30. Two men from Ingushetia were charged in connection to the attack. The Russians allege the attack was masterminded by Pavel Kosolapov, an ex-Russian soldier turned Islamic extremist and associate of Shamil Basayev.
News reports state that authorities suspect Kosolapov and associates may be responsible for the recent attack.
It is notable that militants have not struck the Russian heartland since 2004-2005, confining their attacks to the North Caucasus; this attack is leading some to ask if this is a harbinger of things to come.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bourbon
Kadyrov says
Doku Umarov, the emir of the Caucasus Emirate, may have been
killed in a recent raid. Wait till the DNA test gets back, they have had a couple close calls with Umarov before.
False alarm.
more on the Nevsky Express
BBC reports that Caucasian Mujahadeen via Kavkazcenter.com are claiming they carried out the Nevsky Express attack on the orders of Doku Umarov. Statement claims the attack is part of a broader campaign of sabotage operations targeting strategic sites in Russia, to include electricity transmission lines and oil & gas pipelines.
A report from Ria Novosti citing St. Petersburg Emergency Control Ministry, says the attack was intended to strike two trains as they passed by each other in opposite directions. The Nevsky Express was reportedly one minute off schedule, averting greater disaster. The charge was reportedly equivalent to 7kg of TNT; I don’t know what that would do to the other train, but given the high speeds involved - it is reasonable to suggest this attack could have been much worse.
There was also reportedly an RCIED attack that targeted responders and investigators; no one died in that bomb.
Unintended Strategic Consequences of Security Assistance in the South Caucasus
JFQ, 2nd Qtr 2010: Unintended Strategic Consequences of Security Assistance in the South Caucasus
Quote:
....This article examines the trends in liberal democracy in the South Caucasus in light of economic development. It relates these trends to regional changes in civil-military relations and the prospects for violence in the region. It then assesses the extent to which security assistance has contributed to stability in the region. Finally, recommendations are made about how future security assistance should be structured....
Khloponin, Caucasus and western intelligence services
Via Goolge Translate.
Quote:
Western intelligence agencies are trying to undermine the situation in the North Caucasus. About it as transmits RIA Novosti news agency said on Tuesday the Russian president's envoy in the region Khloponin during the "straight line" with the residents of the district, when asked about the leading security issues.
"Obviously, on the eve of the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 Caucasian subjects, heating or reheating of inter-ethnic or inter-ethnic conflict - this is a very serious challenge, now the secret services of Western countries and simply provocateurs" - said Khloponin
http://newsru.com/russia/26oct2010/chlopo.html
From the Wikileaks dump and hosted by The Guardian.
Chechnya: The Once and Future War, by Ambassador William J. Burns. 30 May 2006.
Quote:
1. (C) Introduction: Chechnya has been less in the glare of constant international attention in recent years. However, the Chechnya conflict remains unresolved, and the suffering of the Chechen people and the threat of instability throughout the region remain. This message reinterprets the history of the Chechen wars as a means of better understanding the current dynamics, the challenges facing Russia, the way in which the Kremlin perceives those challenges, and the factors limiting the Kremlin's ability to respond. It draws on close observation on the ground and conversations with many participants in and observers of the conflict from the moment of Chechnya's declaration of independence in 1991. We intend this message to spur thinking on new approaches to a tragedy that persists as an issue within Russia and between Russia and the U.S., Europe and the Islamic world.
It is in the open now, and the piece is too good not to share with those who have an interest in Chechnya.
Putin's Failure in Chechnya
An interesting Op-ed article on the Guardian's web site, by way of World Politics Review's Media Roundup.
Basic gist of the article is that Putin's heavy-handed approach has caused the Chechen insurgency to metastize and spread. Definitely seems like they are not using classic counterinsurgency tactics.
I'm curious to hear what our learned folks here think.
V/R,
Cliff
Sword or Samovar: eight articles
Maybe of value, an eight part series as a US reporter moves through the region, which I'd missed. Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/categor...ord_or_samovar