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Wednesday, 12.09.2007
FSB: Al Qaida is behind the attacks in the Caucasus
Nasran. In the course of the summer, a total of 40 terrorist attacks have been comitted in Ingushetia. The terror has targeted Russians in particular. Troop reinforcements have not brought about any increase in stability. The FSB sees Al Qaida as being behind the attacks.
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According to information released by the secret services, three Arabs have succeeded in infiltrating the Russian Caucasus. Now they are offering young Ingush men large sums of money for committing terrorist attacks. They claim to be representatives of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organisation Al Qaida.
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Osama bin Laden still active
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The Al Qaida terrorist network stands accused of the attacks on the World Trade Centre on 11th September, 2001. In a video message on the 6th anniversary of the attacks, bin Laden again claimed responsibility for the attacks and praised the terrorists.
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But the Jihad is not only directed against the USA, according to Russian intelligence. Russia has also repeatedly been the target of attacks by Islamic extremists from the Middle East. Such extremists instrumentalise the predominantly Muslim population of the Caucasus, according to Moscow.
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Al Qaida pays for the attacks in the Caucasus
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In Ingushetia, the Al Qaida representatives are alleged to pay young men $2-5000 for each attack they carry out. New groups of fighters are forming in this Russian region in the Caucasus and targeting officials and police, as well as ethnic Russians.
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In July, an ethnic Russian teacher and both her children were murdered. This marked the first in a whole series of attacks on ethnic Russians. A bomb even exploded during the teacher’s funeral. These smaller attacks are clearly meant to heighten tension in the Caucasus in preparation for a large-scale attack.
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Large-scale attack in preparation
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“They are preparing a large-scale attack. The bandits have not even tried to capture some small police station, even thought they are strong enough,” said a security forces spokesperson in the Caucasus.
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Possibly Ingushetia, one of the poorest regions in the Caucasus, is only acting as a bridgehead for the terrorists. The main blow could fall against another of Russia’s Caucasian republics, as has often been the case in the past (for instance in Beslan).
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The most probable target would be Kabardino-Balkaria, that only recently celebrated the 450th anniversary of its incorporation in Russia, and that will soon be the scene of the trial of 59 suspected of attacking its capital of Nalchik in 2006.
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Troop reinforcements did not increase security
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At the start of August, the Interior Ministry reacted to the heightened threat by stationing 2,500 extra troops in the republic. The preventive measure was intended to eradicate the terrorists in Ingushetia. The Interior Ministry assured that the operation would be over by the end of August.
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Now it is mid-September, and the troops are still in Ingushetia. They have not strengthened stability. The terrorists are still active, and what is worse: The population is incensed at the death of a 21 year old man shot on 3rd September by FSB agents. The official version is that he was killed during an anti-terror operation. Eyewitnesses, however, said that the young man was simply murdered.
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Ingushetia is boiling over, but Syazikov tries to hold the lid on
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President Murat Syasikov, who earlier this summer himself survived a terrorist attack, has banned mass demonstrations for the time being. “There will be no demos here,” he declared. “I know how everything started in Grozny: With a demonstration of 5 or 6 people, and then a bloodbath,” he said as justification.
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It is no secret that Ingushetia might soon boil over. Syasikov’s tactic of keeping the lid on is dangerous. He hopes that the security services succeed in defusing the terrorist threat. But if they don’t, the explosion will be so much the louder.
(ab/.rufo/Moscow)
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