Medvedev Outlines Anti-Terrorism Strategy for North Caucasus

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has made an unexpected visit to Russia’s violence-wracked Republic of Dagestan to discuss security situation in the region following recent terrorist attacks in Moscow and the Dagestani town of Kizlyar, reports Russia Times.

Just two days after the terrorist attacks in the Moscow Metro, which claimed the lives of 39 people and left dozens injured, bomb blasts occurred in Kyzlyar, near Dagestan’s border with Chechnya, killing 12 and injuring 29 people. Medvedev has linked the attacks in Moscow and Dagestan, saying that they were aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country.

Calling for harsher actions, Medvedev has also used some tough words, warning that all terrorist gang leaders will be tracked down and punished: “We have twisted the heads off the most hateful bandits. But this is not enough, by all accounts. We will track down and punish all of them. This is the only way we will act.”

Medvedev has also outlined the five main components of fighting terrorism in Russia’s North Caucasus:

“Firstly, to strengthen law enforcement and security bodies, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and other agencies, and to help the courts. Secondly, we must continue to deliver precision strikes against terrorists and their hideouts. Thirdly, we should help those who decided to break away from the bandits. Fourthly, we should develop the economic and social sphere, educational, cultural and humanitarian programs. And finally, we should strengthen the moral and spiritual component, help religious leaders. Given those five components, we will succeed.”

Medvedev has also called on the Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy to the Caucasus Aleksandr Khloponin to make “new proposals on programs, funding, and new jobs.”

Underlying the importance of the moral aspect in the war on terror, Medvedev stressed that no religion teaches to kill people, and noted that it is necessary to maintain close ties with Islamic leaders.

“Morals is not an empty word,” said Medvedev, “We have to help [Islamic leaders] contribute in all ways to the strengthening their authority; they must bring truth.”

The president has also urged for more polite and politically correct terms when referring to the people from the North Caucasus: “Everyone should remember this, and not only understand, but also use the corresponding vocabulary. The people of the Caucasus are our people, they are citizens of Russia, and not just ‘Caucasus-born’.”

He has also stressed that the North Caucasus is “not a foreign province” but it is part of “our country,” pointing out that no insults should be tolerated, as “there is an overwhelming majority of normal, honest, decent people, as well as bandits” in those regions, just as there are in any other regions of the Russian Federation.

As part of the anti-terrorism measures, Medvedev signed a decree on a system of transport protection.

“If we talk about the future — we have three years to implement this system, and the key events should be implemented within a year. One has to consider the general system of control and warnings which will be functioning in a given region, including in the North Caucasus,” Medvedev said.