North Caucasus

But he took a tough line on the worsening Islamist insurgency in the north Caucasus, promising to "exterminate the bandits" .

By way of a welcome for Mr Obama, Russia has staged the biggest military exercise in the north Caucasus since the end of the cold war.

All this can only fan the fast-spreading conflict between the ethnic Russian population and the Muslims of the north Caucasus.

The head of Russia's main intelligence agency-the FSB said the bombs were most likely the work of groups from the North Caucasus.

JUST over two years ago Ingushetia, the smallest and once the most peaceful republic in the north Caucasus, was in a state of civil war.

Since the early 1990s Moscow's only policies have been brute force and money, first in Chechnya and then across the north Caucasus.

It is about a stagnant economy, rampant corruption, growing frustration among the middle classes and a war in the north Caucasus.

In the past such bespredel (extreme lawlessness) was mostly restricted to Chechnya and a few other parts of the north Caucasus.

At least 12 people have been killed in a suspect ed suicide attack in Russia's North Caucasus.

Eleven years on, the north Caucasus is still one of Russia's biggest headaches.

This might not stop the spread of radical Islam in the north Caucasus or eradicate all the rebels, but it would weaken their support.

The authorities in Baku continue to flirt with Russia (though any pipeline going northward would have to cross the unstable north Caucasus).

Terrorism returned to Russia when the volatile north Caucasus region was hit by two bombs in one day, one of them deadly.

Security through tourism: it's an idea aimed not only at the North Caucasus, but at regional powers Azerbaijan and Armenia as well.

There have been many such signs, from barbarity in the north Caucasus to harassment of foreign oil firms and meddlesome foreign policy.

Most worryingly, the violence in the North Caucasus has spread from Chechnya to the rest of the region.

Conflicts in its north Caucasus republics have flared again. Its armed forces are woefully ill-equipped and poorly trained.

Four Russian policemen were killed by a suicide-bomber in Chechnya. The Russian north Caucasus has seen a wave of violence in recent months.

Past terrorist attacks have been traced to militants in the North Caucasus, a predominantly Muslim region in the south of Russia.

The son of an agricultural mechanic in the North Caucasus, Mikhail Gorbachev wasn't exactly tapped for greatness at birth.

Kabardino - Balkar Republic Chechen Republic, Dagestan Republic, Ingushetia Republic belong to the Russian North Caucasus Federal District.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but some analysts are linking the attacks to North Caucasus insurgents.

North Caucasus' Islamist militants Wednesday claimed responsibility for the bombing that derailed a Russian express train killing 27 people.

Officials said preliminary investigation indicated both blasts were set off by women with links to the country's North Caucasus region.

And its neocolonial methods of governance in the north Caucasus have created a tinderbox.

He claimed that some NGOs were also being used by international terror groups to support militants in Russia's volatile North Caucasus.

Interfax quoted sources as saying that Moscow Domodedovo airport bomb blast assault may come from the North Caucasus region.

Russia's North Caucasus region of frequent violence, for attacks on police and government departments continue.

The leader of the Islamist rebels, Doku Umarov, has proclaimed himself emir of north Caucasus.

The republics of Russia's North Caucasus region have undergone centuries of invasion, warfare, and civil strife.

Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, has described the situation in the north Caucasus as Russia's biggest domestic political problem.

The Russian security services said two female suicide bombers from the north Caucasus were responsible.

But there have been signs of a resurgence, including surging terrorist violence in the north Caucasus over the last year.

Umarov said that the attack was intended to establish an independent North Caucasus religious state.

Russian news agencies reported that the women came by bus to Moscow from the North Caucasus on Sunday.

Soldatov said that the daily killings in the North Caucasus go largely unreported in Russia's Moscow-based media.

Conflicts in its north Caucasus republics have flared again.

Muslim fundamentalism is on the rise in the north Caucasus. To stop it, Russian policy must change.

But even as the world's attention is fixed on Georgia, Russian citizens keep dying in the north Caucasus.

Tatarstan is stable, but the republics of the north Caucasus are aflame. Why?

The number of insurgents is estimated by experts at 500 men, plus 600-800 part-timers, across the whole north Caucasus.

If Chechnya's fight has been subdued, however, the North Caucasus's larger struggle continues on.

They put the blame on the north Caucasus, a mostly Muslim region.

Radicalisation of young people is increasing, both in the north Caucasus and in Moscow.

It's the latest in a series of attacks in Russia's troubled North Caucasus region.

That's true; yet the problems in the north Caucasus are largely of Russia's own making.

Even after the Moscow attacks, there is little public discussion about the roots of the violence in the north Caucasus.

In the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia is illegal armed active region.

It will next be provided to the North Caucasus Military District.

A fresh spate of killings hit Chechnya, in Russia's north Caucasus.

Even in Russia few people take much interest in the north Caucasus.

The north Caucasus, on the other hand, was colonised by Russia only in the second half of the 19th century, and was never fully assimilated.

'Given how bad the situation in the North Caucasus is, we'll have an elevated level of terror threat every day, ' he said.

Two horrifying terrorist metro bombings in Moscow, but still there is a need for a new approach to the north Caucasus