Hard to believe that this came from the same group that made this. Doku Umarov is a master at keeping his cause never-too-far from the headlines. Almost a year ago exactly, JD provided a great rundown of Umarov in his “Who’s Who Terrorist” series. That, along with this profile from the BBC, should be ample primer for the uninformed on the notorious Chechen insurgent leader.
Seems as if Umarov is hoping for a major retaliatory crackdown in the North Caucasus by Russian Security Forces, likely with the hope of reigniting separatist aspirations of the region’s population. I’m not a big follower of the region, but I do think it will be pretty interesting to see how Russia handles this moving forward.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
The north-east caucasus are probably the closest thing to a classic Jihadist insurgency that we have outside of AfPak. A political insurgency that sprung an ideological root fueled by hatred, unemployment, and foreign (read fundamentalist) support. The entire life-cycle from the original post-Soviet rebellion to the current state is woefully understudied, especially with regard to lessons learned on what NOT to do from our Russian Federation compadres in Anti-Jihadism.
ReplyDeleteI'd also say that a COIN discussion that doesn't understand Chechnya is missing out on a rich laboratory.
Check out this great article on the insurgency in southern Russia:
ReplyDeleteWashington Post (06 Feb) - "Russia's Muslim south is hideout for robust insurgency"