Al-Qaeda seeks foothold in North Caucasus

On 31 August, Russian forces killed an Algerian-born militant in Dagestan, highlighting foreign jihadists' renewed efforts to re-establish a presence in the North Caucasus.

The militant, who went by the name of 'Doctor Mohammed', was killed when security forces stormed a terrorist safe house in the village of Mutsalaul in the Khasvyurt district of Dagestan. According to the Federal Security Service, he was the "the Al-Qaeda co-ordinator in Dagestan".

Russian security forces have told Jane's that another man killed in the attack was a member of the Jamaat Shariat of Dagestan, the primary local insurgent group that claimed responsibility for the assassination of Dagestani Minister of the Interior Lieutenant General Adilgerei Magomedtagirov in June.

Moscow has repeatedly drawn a connection between foreign militants, including supposed members of Al-Qaeda, and the indigenous insurgent groups of the North Caucasus. However, there has been no real evidence to support this and even the 31 August encounter does not so much prove that Al-Qaeda has inspired and bankrolled the recent upsurge of violence, so much as corroborate indications that it is seeking to re-establish connections with local groups.

Al-Qaeda's ideology of global jihad has had little appeal to militants primarily motivated by local concerns such as government corruption, widespread poverty and indiscriminate security sweeps.