Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel confirmed that the May 17 bombing was carried out with a remote controlled device and that vestiges of the equipment were found at the locale of the attack. The Ingush Interior Minister was targeted, as he was traveling in an armored convoy of three cars. His vehicle reportedly suffered the most severe damage. The force of the blast, which reportedly consisted of approximately 110 pounds of TNT, points to sophisticated architects with extensive resources and capabilities. Many are now blaming Chechen Rebels for the attack, specifically guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev , as the mastermind behind this atrocity and many others in recent times.
The precarious region of the North Caucasus has seen an intensification of violence with several incidents this spring. The Chechen Rebels have stepped up their raids after a comparably calm period following the Beslan school attack in September 2004 . That attack raised revulsion around the world and rouse universal awareness to the magnitude and complexity of the conflict.
The most radical of the perpetrating separatists have long aimed at spreading the violence beyond Chechnya?s borders to the neighboring North Caucasian republics, hoping to accomplish a victory that would result in the institution of an Islamic state in region. Thus, Ingushetia?s government, along with Dagestan?s and other regional regimes, has repeatedly been targeted by Islamist rebels for their secular pro-Russian platforms. Local guerrilla fighters in these republics have joined the Chechen Rebel movement with the same radical agenda, causing much havoc in the region.
Russia has referred to Chechnya as the main instigator of these uprisings. Moscow states that its main concern is that if Chechnya secedes, it could incite outcries for sovereignty throughout the region and ?become a centre of lawlessness and Islamic militancy.? Vladimir Putin?s failed attempts to curb the violence has left him to call for the world community to recognize the Chechen Rebels as terrorists, claiming that not only do they have tangible links to al-Qaeda , but they also share the same agenda of undertaking a worldwide jihad. By getting onboard the US’ Global War on Terror, Putin is trying to gain legitimacy in his vengeance of the rebellion.
His concerns have proved themselves well-founded, especially if one looks at the profile of the most notorious militant leader, Shamil Basayev. His bloody history includes some of the most atrocious attacks in the recent years: hospital sieges in 1995 and 1996 (Terrorist Incident and Terrorist Incident), a Moscow metro attack in February 2004 , the seizing of a movie theater in Moscow in 2002 , the devastation of two Russian airplanes in 2004 carried out by female suicide bombers , the assassination of several government officials including the pro-Russian Chechen president, Akhmad Kadyrov , and the Beslan school attack that killed over 300 people including numerous children.
This track record ought to be sufficient evidence that Basayev is one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world in the present day. Many of his guerrilla?s fighters are believed to have come as volunteers from training camps in Afghanistan to join the quest to establish a Caliphate, the same sort of people that have come to join similar wars in Iraq , South East Asia, and elsewhere. In a statement issued in 2004, Basayev said, ?I have not met Bin Laden. I received no money from him, but I would not have declined the offer.? Whether Basayev?s network has ties to al-Qaeda remains unconfirmed; nonetheless, he has demonstrated a great support of bin Laden and a willingness to combine forces with him.
Manifestly, the situation in the North Caucasus is coming to a critical point in which restraining the militancy and bringing stability to the region must be considered an acute mission.
