Terrorist acts in Stavropol and Karachayevo-Circassia: fresh tensions in North Caucasus

A series of terrorist acts has been perpetrated in North Caucasus. On Saturday, terrorist attacks took place in the cities of Mineralnye Vody, Yesentuki, and in the republic of Karachayevo-Cirkassia. The first two have already been reported by PRAVDA.Ru. A similar attack has occurred in Cherkessk, the capital of Karachayevo-Circassia. About 8:20am local time, a car stuffed with explosives went off beside a market place. 2 people have died, according to preliminary information (the blast occurred when the car was being examined by police). In all, according to the latest data, 13 people have died and over 60 wounded as a result of terrorist acts perpetrated on the Stavropol Territory and in Karachayevo-Cirkassia. Police admits that all 3 explosions may by interconnected – they occurred about the same time, and in each case it was a car bomb. Moreover, the three blasts may be not only interconnected. Successful actions by Albanian extremists on the south of Kosovo and Macedonia, which are largely unpunished, amid complacency on the part of the “civilized” world’s cannot help but inspire rebels on Russia’s south. It is not only “spiritual ties” that make the two hearths of world terrorism related. And it is not by chance that President Putin, addressing EU summit in Stockholm, drew a close parallel between the situation in North Caucasus and the conflict in Macedonia. The above terrorist attacks may testify to the fresh escalation of the conflict in Chechnya and the neighbouring regions.