The brutality and meticulous planning of the school hostage-taking and other recent terror attacks in Russia have focused new attention on the growing influence of Islamic extremists over Chechen rebels and raised suspicions of a global terror connection. The conflict in Chechnya, which began a decade ago as a secular fight for independence from Moscow, has steadily evolved into what local and foreign militants have described as jihad, or “holy war” against Russia. “Over time, a growing number of people in Chechnya have identified themselves with global jihad,” said Alexei Malashenko, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment’s Moscow office. Full Story