Suicide bomb in Russia's Dagestan follows strike on Al Qaeda

Mr. Magomedov’s group is held responsible for a bloody campaign of violence: In June, Dagestan’s Interior Minister was shot dead, while in the same month the president of the republic narrowly escaped a suicide attack on his motorcade, reports Russia’s Ria Novosti news outlet. In August, a suicide bombing at a police station in Ingushetia killed at least 24 people, while another suicide strike on a police station wounded 16 people in mid December, the Associated Press adds.

Magomedov’s group is not only lethal, but allegedly flush with cash. Inside notebooks seized after the New Year’s Eve raid, police found financial registers laying out the global scope of Magomedov’s support network. Russian state television recently reported that militants have received funding from as far away as Turkey, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, and supporters in Saudi Arabia, Agence France-Presse adds.

The violence in Dagestan helps to further a perception that Al Qaeda and its affiliates remain committed and capable of striking targets around the world, despite the concerted effort of the US and its allies to thwart them. The Wall Street Journal recently warned about that decentralized lethality, and though it did not mention Al Qaeda in Dagestan specifically, Magomedov’s group fits the same mold:

U.S. and allied-government officials have claimed significant progress against al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq recently. But the group appears able to nimbly deploy forces to places where international military pressure isn't as concentrated or has eased.

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See also:

To rein in Al Qaeda in Yemen, Britain taps its colonial past

The Christian Science Monitor

Detroit terror attack: Barack Obama vows to improve security after 'screw up'

The Telegraph

Confusion grows over how bomber infiltrated CIA base in Afghanistan

The Los Angeles Times

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