Nevskii Express Muslim Brotherhood Bombers Sentenced

On 27^th November 2009 a bomb attack took place on the Nevskii Express (pictured below) travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg, with a crank claiming that this had been carried out by a Russian cell of Combat 18 based in St Petersburg. This never rang true, and the main theory at the time of the explosion was that it was the act of Islamist terrorists, probably Chechens. Earlier this week, the culprits were finally sentenced for this act of terror, but rather than being Chechens, they were all Ingush males from the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia said to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood.  

 

Interfax reports that four of the men were sentenced to life imprisonment on the following counts: “the organisation of and participation in an illegal armed formation”; “banditry”; conducting a “terrorist act”; “murder”; “attempted murder”; the “illegal trafficking of weapons” and the “illegal preparation of weapons”. A further six were given 15-year custodial sentences. The attack that these men prepared and perpetrated claimed the lives of 27 passengers and wounded a further 132.

Although Ingushetia and Chechnya split from each other in the 1990s, both still technically remain in the Russian Federation and are hotbeds of Islamism. Russia has suffered from a series of serious Islamist terrorist attacks that have not received the attention that they often deserve in the Western media (e.g. Moscow Metro, March 2010; Kizlyar, March2010; Nazran, April 2010; Vladikavkaz, September 2010), and tensions with the Muslim peoples of the northern Caucasus remain high, as evidenced by a spate of clashes in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and its surrounding district. If it were not for the strategic importance of Chechnya occasioned by the fact that oil pipelines happen to cross its territory, it could well be to Russia’s benefit to let the ‘republic’ and the other Islamic peoples of the region – such as the Ingush – become independent.

Vladikavkaz Suicide Bombing

An Islamist suicide bomber attacked the Russian city of Vladikavkaz this morning, detonating a car bomb in the city's central marketplace at 11:00 Moscow Standard Time. The market was packed and was thus transformed into a scene of carnage. Reports of casualties vary, with Izvestiia reporting 15 dead and 90 injured, whereas Nezavisimaia gazeta cites the same number of dead, but 114 wounded. Two children were amongst the fatalities. As in all such cases, the final tally of the dead is likely to rise.

Izvestiia reports that North Ossetian police have provisionally identified the bomber as a man named Archiev. Registration documents found after the explosion indicate that the car belonged to someone with the surname of Dobriev. It is not clear whether the car had been stolen.

The authorities have warned that more attacks may follow and have sealed the border between Northern Ossetia and Ingushetia. Most Ossetians are Christians, whereas the Ingush are Muslims. This is but the latest instalment in the bloody history of the region which has witnessed a growth in local Salafist activism in recent years which has amongst its aims the creation of a breakaway ‘emirate’ in the northern Caucasus region.

One of the main figures behind recent Islamist suicide attacks is Dokku Umarov, the self-styled Chechen ‘Emir of the Caucasus Emirate.’ His aim is to establish an Islamic emirate uniting the Northern Caucasus, the Krasnodar, Astrakhan and Volga regions. It is not as yet clear whether or not he or his group specifically was linked to this attack, but amongst the many incidents this year they have already staged suicide bombings in Nazran (Ingushetia), Kizlyar (Dagestan) and of course Moscow. Last November also witnessed the bombing of the Nevskii Express which links Moscow and St Petersburg.




Pictures courtesy of Reuters:

Russia: Nazran Suicide Bomb Attack

Russia today witnessed its fifth bombing in a little over a week, with a double bomb attack upon a police station in Nazran in the North Caucasian Republic of Ingushetia. This time it was a suicide bomber who struck first followed by a car bomb, the attack closely resembling last week’s bombing of another police station in Kizlyar Dagestan where a car bomb was followed a few minutes later by a suicide attack. Yesterday another blast took place, derailing a freight train in Dagestan but fortunately causing no fatalities. Latest reports suggest that two police officers were killed and another two injured in the Nazran incident.

Dokku Umarov, a Chechen Islamist who wishes to establish an Islamic Emirate in the Northern Caucaus, Krasnodar Krai, Astrakhan and the Volga Region, claimed responsibility for the recent Moscow Metro bombings and warned that there would be many more to come. It is probable that his followers were behind today’s attack. In the immediate period following the fall of the USSR, terrorist attacks upon Russian civilians and infrastructure targets were justified by the perpetrators in the name of Chechen independence, but in recent years this has been supplanted by a drift towards an espousal of Salafist jihadism. Clearly, the Islamists are turning up the heat in Russia, so expect more of the same in the weeks ahead and beyond. Reports on today’s and yesterday’s bombings can be accessed in the videos below.