The Chechen connection in the Boston bombings doesn’t come completely out of the blue.
While the situation in the city is unclear, Chechens have played a vital role in the al Qaeda network for nearly 20 years now.
They have been present in the recent upsurge in al Qaeda fighting in eastern Afghanistan — where the Americans have been fighting an almost private war with disparate Taliban groups in the mountains leading across the Pakistan border.
Chechens have been travelling to the Taliban sanctuaries in Waziristan to receive, and in turn give, guerrilla training. Whenever the term “foreign fighters” is used in describing the new alliances of Islamist militants, there is nearly always a Chechen element.
They have been in Libya. From there they are even believed to move into the disturbed sub-Sahara, the Sahel, stretching from Somalia through to Mali and beyond. They are among the most active and now militarily-accomplished of the new breed of guerrilla and terrorist. They are sure to be among the hard men now battling to overthrow Syria’s President Assad, as Chechens have operated in this part of the world ever since they were expelled during the last years of Tsarist Russia — many thousands going to what is now Jordan, forming a significant part of the governing intelligentsia.
The two suspects in the Boston bombings seem to have lived in the heart of one of the most prestigious academic communities in the US, if not the world. Given the levels of investment in homeland security since the 9/11 attacks, the presence and success of the bombers in pressing home their attack may prove more than a mere embarrassment for President Obama and his intelligence services.
Evidently they were looking the wrong way. For the UK there is a message from this, too. Counter-terrorism strategy and operations are a labour intensive business. This is no time to be talking about manpower cuts and frozen budgets for the security forces.
The second warning note is that this comes from a wide network of malevolent interests resonating from Afghanistan. And the dangers and risks from Afghanistan do not end when our troops leave at the end of next year.
