Russia: December 5, 2003

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 Another suicide bomb attack took place in southern Russia. A suicide bomber, probably a Chechen, boarded a crowded commuter train with a 15 pound bomb and killed 36 and wounded over a hundred. Some of the Chechen factions fighting Russia have said they would carry the war into Russia, and several times a year they do so. Inside Chechnya, Russia is still backing a Chechen majority willing to confront the many rebel factions. The pro-Russian Chechens don't like Russia, but they realize that the criminal, nationalist and Islamic rebel factions are fighting a losing battle for supremacy. There's hope that some kind of deal can be worked out with the criminals and nationalists. But the Islamic radical factions are hopeless, as they are on a mission from God. The Islamic radicals want to establish an Islamic Republic throughout the Caucasus, converting or driving out all  non-Moslems. Hundreds of Chechens have been caught working with al Qaeda. 

 

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