Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is one of the most powerful and most feared men in Russia. For more than a decade the Kremlin has relied on him to maintain order in Chechnya – the Russian North Caucasus republic he has ruled like a personal fiefdom. Human rights groups have accused him of a string of […]
Al-Qaeda has confirmed that Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of its offshoot in the Arabian Peninsula, has been killed in a US drone strike in Yemen. His death was announced by the AQAP group in an online video. His successor was named as military chief Qasim al-Raymi. Wuhayshi was seen as al-Qaeda’s second-in-command and was a […]
A Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog has made his first public appearance since attending a debate that was targeted in a gun attack in Copenhagen last month. Lars Vilks received a prize for courage from a free press group, at a heavily secured event in the Danish parliament. His cartoon […]
Iraqi military helicopters have destroyed a convoy of fuel tankers inside Syrian territory, Baghdad says. The convoy was heading towards the border and was due to supply jihadi militants in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to the Interior Ministry. It is believed to be the first time Iraq has said it has carried out an attack […]
BACKGROUND:This development calls to mind the policy of the Tsarist General Yermolov, who came to Chechnya and the North Caucasus following his war on Napoleon in the first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1817, he built the Grozny fortress, from “terror” in Russian, in order to “terrorize” Chechens, and cut and burnt down forests […]
BACKGROUND:the two wars in Chechnya affected the humanitarian situation there significantly. Chechens suffers from countless health problems, in part due to attacks by Russian forces with weapons containing highly toxic substances. It has been established that 86 percent of the Chechens suffer from psychological disturbances; this is 30 percent more than the number of people […]
BACKGROUND: These elections constitute the last phase in a three-phase \”political process\” designed by the Kremlin to normalize conditions in Chechnya through its loyalist Chechen government. The first phase consisted of holding a constitutional referendum in March 2003, followed by presidential elections held in November 2004 that resulted, as was clear, with the success of the […]
BACKGROUND: The “Domino Effect” was a key Russian concern over Chechen calls for independence, or separation as dubbed by Russia, since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing beginning of the Russo-Chechen war in 1994. Russia’s concern was that the Chechen model would be replicated all over the North Caucasus, causing Russia lose […]
BACKGROUND: This article builds on two major works by two thinkers in the Salafi-Jihadist movement. The first is “Fursan Tahta Rayat An-Nabi” (Knights under the Prophet’s Banner), by Ayman Zawahiri, was published as a series in the London-based Arabic newspaper “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” in December 2001. The second is “Al-Muslimoun fi Wasat Asia wa Ma’rakat Al-Islam Almukbila” […]
BACKGROUND: The second Russian-Chechen war erupted in 1999, and the Russian forces invaded the Republic and presented a formula for resolution of the conflict based on fraudulent elections that brought Chechnya’s former mufti (religious leader), Ahmad Kadyrov, to power. Following Kadyrov’s assassination in May 2004, the power was turned to Alu Alkhanov in the same way, […]
