The Caucasus region — encompassing Russia's North Caucasus republics as well as the southern Caucasus countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan — has been heating up over the past few days. Militants set off three bombs July 21 at a hydropower plant in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. A Muslim worship house in the village of Birkiani in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, which has a significant population of Chechens, was reportedly demolished by Chechens on July 21 to build a larger Wahabbi mosque, leading to a public outcry. An improvised explosive device was set off July 22 in the Gali district of the breakaway republic of Abkhazia, injuring five police officers. Instability, terrorism and violence are all common features of the Caucasus, but something larger could be stirring that could lead to a boiling point. The incident in the Pankisi Gorge is particularly curious, as the Georgian government had emphasized that this region — which was stirring with Chechen forces linked to Russia prior to and during the Russian war with Georgia in 2008 — had completely normalized.
