Terrorism

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Beslan School Siege

‘No-one was held accountable’: Beslan, 20 years later

by Elizaveta Chukharova

•9 min read

Twenty years after the Beslan School Siege, many of its victims continue to seek accountability from Russia’s leaders, who appear determined to ignore their calls. Until 2004, few outside of North Ossetia knew of the existence of Beslan, a town of just 35,000 people a stone’s throw from the regional capital, Vladikavkaz. That changed on 1 September 2004, when more than 30 armed men stormed a local school during a ceremony to mark the beginning of the school year. During a three-day siege, t

Arrest and interrogation of the suspect. Screengrab: TASS/Telegram

Adygea

Eighteen-year-old detained in Adygea on suspicion of planning attack on church

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said it has prevented a terrorist attack on an Orthodox church in the North Caucasian Republic of Adygea. On 11 July, the FSB announced that they had detained an 18-year-old from a Central Asian country who was a member of an ‘international terrorist organisation’. Russian state news agency TASS cited the FSB as saying that the detainee had been preparing an attack on an Orthodox church in the capital of Adygea, Maykop, with the intention of ki

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, which the group had reportedly planned to attack. Photo via Getyourguide

Austria

Daghestani man commits suicide in Austrian deportation centre

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•1 min read

A Daghestani man accused of planning terrorist attacks has committed suicide in an Austrian deportation centre, hours before he was expected to be deported to Russia. On Thursday, Austrian tabloid newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported the man’s suicide, describing him as a member of Wilayat Khorasan, a regional branch of terrorist organisation Islamic State. Other outlets later confirmed the reports with the Viennese State Police Directorate. The Wilayat Khorasan group took responsibility for t

Chechnya

Niqab and MMA under fire in North Caucasus following Daghestan terror attack

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•3 min read

The niqab and mixed martial arts have come under fire from within the North Caucasus and Russia as a whole following last month’s deadly terror attack in Daghestan. On Wednesday, the Coordination Centre for Muslims of the North Caucasus decreed that niqabs cause harm to Muslims and threaten discord in interreligious and interethnic relations. The decree came days after Daghestan’s Muftiate issued and then retracted a decree banning the niqab throughout Russia. The Coordination Centre un

Ramzan Kadyrov. Photo via Grozny-Inform.

Chechnya

Kadyrov at odds with Investigative Committee head over Islamophobic remarks

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has accused the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee of ‘conflating Islam with terrorism’ following deadly attacks in Daghestan in June. The Investigative Committee’s head, Alexander Bastrykin, had spoken in favour of banning the niqab, a long garment worn by some Muslim women that covers their entire body and face, in Russia. Bastrykin went on to say that ‘Islamists’ committed the Daghestan attacks and the Rostov detention centre hostage crisis in June. In

Head of Daghestan Sergei Melikov visits a synagogue set on fire in Sunday's attacks. Photo: RFE/RL

Chechnya

Recriminations in Daghestan and Chechnya follow deadly attacks

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

At least 12 relatives of a Daghestani official have been detained as several regions of the North Caucasus have stepped up security following Sunday’s deadly attacks in Daghestan. Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov has meanwhile promised to eliminate the male bloodline of any attackers. The 23 June attacks, which targeted Orthodox churches, a synagogue, and a traffic police post in two Daghestani cities, resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people and the hospitalisation of at least 16 more. On

Security forces preparing to storm a church in Makhachkala. Screengrab: Ask Rasul/Telegram

Daghestan

At least 20 killed in attacks in Daghestan

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

At least 15 police officers, five civilians, and five attackers have reportedly been killed in coordinated attacks on churches, a synagogue, and police in two cities in Daghestan. Gun battles took place in the Daghestani capital Machakhala and the southern town of Derbent overnight with at least 16 people hospitalised. On Monday morning, Russian state media agency RIA reported that the counterterrorist operation regime had been lifted after the ‘threat to life and wellbeing of citizens’