By Theodore Shoebat
The Russian government has been wiping out terrorists in its lands in a powerful and major anti-terrorist campaign. As we read in one Russian report:
Security forces in the North Caucasus have greatly succeeded in the fight against the terrorist underground. According to 2015 statistics, they virtually destroyed the Caucasus Emirate (the local branch of Al-Qaeda)*, and eliminated 20 of the 26 leaders of the groups that had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State.
In addition to law enforcement operations, local authorities are making great efforts in “terrorism prevention” among the population. According to experts, these combined measures have brought a good result. The activity of terrorists in the region is rapidly on the decline since the days of the Sochi Olympics in 2014, when security forces launched a campaign to drive out the Wahhabis.
However, methods of preventing terrorism, which often violate human rights, have drawn sharp criticism from human rights activists. Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center dedicated a recent report to a detailed analysis of the situation in the North Caucasus and the description of the authorities’ policies.