At least twenty people died in a recent attack in Chechnya's capital of Grozny.
Terrorists attacked a police post and then stormed a secondary building.
This comes on the
heels of an attack last October when a suicide bomber killed five police officers and wounded
twelve others.
Many news outlets have reported these attacks are being carried out by Islamic
militants.
So, what exactly is going on in Chechnya?
Well first off, Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim republic under Russian control that
has
been at conflict with Russia for almost 200 years, including two recent wars between Russia
and Chechen separatists that left over a hundred and fifty thousand dead.
The
Chechen separatist movement started as a secular nationalist movement but has since shifted
to a religious movement.
While the First Chechen War in 1994 was largely a secular fight for
independence against Russia, the Second Chechen War in 1999 was sparked by Islamic
backed Chechen troops invading the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan
in the hopes of establishing a new Islamic State.
By the Second Chechen War it was very clear that Chechen rebel groups were less
nationalist and more closely tied to the ideals of jihad and an Islamic State.
This includes
reported visits of al-Qaeda leaders and soldiers to Chechnya and some Chechen rebels
traveling to Afghanistan to train with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
There have also been reports
that Osama bin laden helped “fuel the flames in Chechnya” with weapons and money.
From there, Chechen radicalism only grew.
In 2002, terrorist actions by Islamist Chechen
rebels resulted in the deaths of 115 people when the group, led by Islamic militant leader
Shamil
Basayev, attacked a theatre.
And in 2004 the same group also
took over a Russian school resulting in the deaths of at least 335 people, most of which
were
children.
Now, Chechen jihadist fighters are spreading out to fight in other countries including
Iraq
and Turkey.
The Economist reports that close to a thousand Chechen militants traveled to fight
with ISIS.
In fact, one man, known as “Omar the Chechen,” has become the face of ISIS and is
being looked at as one of the groups leaders in Syria.
Although there are reports he has been
killed.
The fear now is that these same ISIS fighters are returning home and bringing a new wave
of
violence to Chechnya.
A new group has formed, calling themselves the Caucasus Emirate led
by a notorious Chechen jihadist leader.
They are taking responsibility for the latest attacks, as
well as two separate Moscow subway bombings, and numerous threats leading up to the 2014
Sochi Olympic Games.
So now, not only are Chechen rebels fighting for an independent state
against Russia, but also as part of a bigger, global jihad movement.
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