The Russian COIN campaign in North Caucasus
The Russian COIN campaign in North Caucasus
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Government — the main source of instability in the northern Caucasus
The sub-title or opening reads:
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As violence in the north Caucasus hits the headlines again, Alexander Cherkasov sees the roots of the problem in the Russian government’s wilful misunderstanding of local issues and lack of strategy for dealing with them.
The first paragraph:
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In the course of the armed conflict that has been alternately flaring up and smouldering in the north Caucasus over the last two decades, the two sides have not only infringed human rights, but denied their existence as a basic human value. The methods used by the Russian government in its war with an armed underground – ‘terror against terror’ – are not only unlawful and criminal by definition: they are also counterproductive, since they simply encourage a constant renewal of these guerrilla forces. The use of ‘death squadrons’, who abduct people, hold them in secret prisons, torture and execute them without trial, certainly produces an effect, but is ultimately useless.
Some of the examples cited are staggering.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russ...thern-caucasus
Suicide Bombing: Chechnya, the North Caucasus and Martyrdom
Thanks to Cerwyn Moore, the author of this article, which is on-line for a limited period:). From the opening:
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This essay analyses Chechen-related suicide attacks, locating them within the historical and political context of the anti-Russian insurgency in the North Caucasus and the different factions of the anti-Russian armed resistance movement in the period between the first and second Russo-Chechen wars. The core of the essay is an analysis of the different character of two waves of suicide operations, (2000–2002) and (2002–2004). The first wave was linked to nominally Islamist groups, whereas the second set of attacks were linked to Operation Boomerang devised by Shamil Basaev. Finally, the essay considers other attacks that do not fit into either of these two waves of terrorism.
(It ends with) the analysis in this essay serves to debunk many of the myths, often repeated in popular studies, associated with Chechen-related suicide attacks.
Link:http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...36.2012.718421
The Russian Counterinsurgency Operation in Chechnya Part 1: Winning the Battle, Losin
The Russian Counterinsurgency Operation in Chechnya Part 2: Success, But at What Cost
Jihad in Russia: the Caucasus Emirate: IISS Strategic Comment
A useful reminder by IISS on what is happening in the region; where the insurgents have caused everyone a few surprises in the past:http://www.iiss.org/publications/str...casus-emirate/
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Russia's counter-terrorism effort has assumed greater urgency since the 2014 Winter Olympic Games were awarded to Sochi, a popular resort city in the North Caucasus......(much later)...the Olympic Games have in the past proven to be a highly valued terrorist target, and the 2014 Sochi venue is probably seen by the CE as an opportunity to make its mark on the global stage.
Useful to see where the insurgents have spread and launched attacks, some pre-empted.
Personally I think there has been much hype around the terrorist threat to the Olympics Games.
In due course I will merge this into the main thread on the region and Chechnya.
Guerillas back in the mountains
A pre-publication alert for 'Fangs of the Lone Wolf. Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen Wars 1994-2009' by Dodge Billingsley & Lester Grau. From the publishers summary:
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Books on guerrilla war are seldom written from the tactical perspective and even less seldom from the guerrilla's perspective....These are the stories of low-level guerrilla combat as told by the survivors. They cover fighting from the cities of Grozny and Argun to the villages of Bamut and Serzhen-yurt, and finally the hills, river valleys and mountains that make up so much of Chechnya. The author embedded with Chechen guerrilla forces and knows the conflict, country and culture. Yet, as a Western outsider, he is able to maintain perspective and objectivity
Link to Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/FANGS-LONE-WOL...Wars+1994-2009 and Amazon (UK):http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fangs-Cheche...+the+lone+wolf
The Volgograd Bombings: the Latest Chapter in Putin’s War in the Caucasus
As the Winter Olympics loom closer in Sochi, a Black Sea city in the Russian Federation, rather close to the Caucasus, has long been expected to be a target for Islamist groups based in the Caucasus.
There is an older thread, with no updates since late 2011 'Terrorism in Russia' at:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=10058
Dr Cerywn Moore, University of Birmingham (UK), is one of the few here who watches the region through the terrorism prism and following recent attacks has a backgrounder via RUSI:http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment.../#.UtxHn9LFJkh
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The latest bombings in Russia is part of an ongoing war between Putin and Islamist rebels who feed upon a anti-federal, pan-Turkic and pan-Islamist narrative.
There is another RUSI commentary 'The Volgograd Bombings and the Winter Olympics' at:http://www.rusi.org/go.php?structure...8#.UtxLItLFJkg
The regional Islamist leader, Doku Umarov, was again IIRC declared as killed in action this week, going on some Twitter traffic. The BBC has nothing to support this.
Dagestan: Russia’s hottest spot
An Open Democracy article on this little known Russian republic by a local reporter (also works for Radio Liberty:
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Asked to name Russia’s most troublesome region, most people would plump for Chechnya. But its neighbour Dagestan is now officially the most dangerous part of the Federation. In this republic of three million people there are sixty different ethnic groups, and not a week goes by without clashes between the police and insurgents, anti-terrorist special forces raids and explosions. It is also one of its least developed regions, with most of its financial needs met by subsidies from the centre. And its level of corruption is one of the highest in Russia as well.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russ...s-hottest-spot