Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security
As the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics approaches, already two female suicide bombers have carried out two successful attacks on Russian civilians. The first was a bus bombing in October by a female in Volgograd. That attack killed six and inured 30. The suspected bomber was identified as 30 year old Naida Asiyalova, from Dagestan.
The second suicide bombing was carried out today at a railway station in Volgograd city. Around 16 people have been killed so far and some 50 were initially reported by the Ministry of Health as injured from the attack.
Russian officials stated that blast was caused by round 10 kilos of TNT. A female wearing the device approached the metal detector nervously and triggered it right at the security entrance of the Volgograd central station.
A history of female suicide bombers, also known as “black widows,” over the last several years demonstrated a shift in tactics by Islamic extremist groups in the North Caucus. Cyber-attacks and other tactics are also used. No group has claimed responsibility for the railway station attack so far. Russian authorities are cracking down on them at is likely they wish to remain silent to cause even more damage.
Chechen terrorist and insurgent leader Doku Umarov vows to use “maximum force” to prevent the “Satanic games” coming up next February in Sochi.
The White House: “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.”
Russia is having a difficult time assuring the international community that they have the situation under control. With Russian pro-Syrian involvement, a long-term North Caucus separatist movement, pro-Iranian ties and the coming Olympics, Russia is becoming a more attractive target for international and regional Sunni jihadists. Moreover, each successful attack emboldens more terrorism.
Russia’s response has been multi-tiered. They recently passed legislation that permits punishment and or fines of suspected family members of terrorism. Because terrorism is often network centered, the Russians feel justified in punishing relatives that did not warn authorities of an impending attack. It is now the legal responsibility of the relatives to manage their potentially extremist bloodlines.
The application of harsh methods including torture, killings and threats to terrorists is the other most common approach rather than apprehending suspected terrorists within Russia.
As for the games, they were originally planned in 2009 to have 42,000 police officers, 10,000 interior ministry security personnel and 23,000 personnel from the Ministry for Emergency Situations. Is that enough?
They might be adding more or even a military presence eventually. Russian authorities have said that they would fall short of setting up any concentration camps for the Muslim minority in the city and its environs. They often favor the process of coercive intimidation on their political enemies and threats.
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