The Tsarnaev brothers’ brutal attack in Boston sparked renewed interest in terrorism in Eurasia. The subsequent disclosure that two students from Kazakhstan allegedly tried to hide incriminating evidence against Djokhar Tsarnaev has only heightened that interest. The not-guilty plea of Fazliddin Kurbanov, the alleged Uzbek terrorist in Idaho, underscores the new threat.
And that’s a good thing. Understanding what was and is happening in Eurasia can help us better fight terrorism and prevent future attacks rooted in that region.
Chechens and Uzbeks fought in Afghanistan with the Taliban, and fighters from the North Caucasus are involved in Syria on the side of Sunni extremists despite Russia’s support of the Assad regime. But until the Tsarnaev and Kurbanov cases, no Muslims from the ex-USSR were involved in U.S.-based terror attacks.
Most North Caucasus migrants and their communities back home bear no enmity to America. However, many carry with them the historic trauma of czarist oppression and ethnic cleansing, as well as the 1944 genocidal expulsion to Siberia and Central Asia.
