Spotlight: Terrorism remains threat to Central Asia, North Caucasus

Though terrorist activities in Central Asia and North Caucasus have been crushed effectively with concerted regional efforts in recent years, they still remain a potential threat to peace and stability in the region.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago, dozens of terrorist groups have emerged in Central Asia, which have a connection with terrorist forces outside the region.

Although some of the terrorist groups appeared obscured by the high-profile al-Qaida and the Islamic State, they were supported by al-Qaida to spread religious extremism, topple governments and carry out terror attacks or incite followers to do so.

After 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001, Central Asian countries have effectively contained the spread of terrorism in the region with the support of the international community, especially the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has played an irreplaceable role in fighting against terrorism.

On future of anti-terror drive in the region, Zhang Xinfeng, director of the Executive Committee of the SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorism Agency, said terrorism still simmered below the surface given the grave situation in the Middle East and North Africa and the negative impact left by NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He said the terrorist groups "tend to incite religious extremism, recruit followers and plot terror attacks via the Internet" in recent years, and combined their activities with drug trafficking, armed smuggling and organized crime.

Violence is common in southern Russia, especially in North Caucasus, with militants attacking government establishments and civilians regularly.

The collapse of the Soviet Union led North Caucasus to become a main source of global terror activities as separatists of the Chechnya Republic sought independence, and the rebels fled to the Caucasus mountainous areas after the second Chechnya war to conduct terrorist activities with support of foreign forces including al-Qaida.

To eradicate terrorism, the Russian Federation has set up a special development plan for North Caucasus, where the economy is less developed and extremism ideology is prevailing. However, it is still hard to realize a great-leap-forward development for the region and change the radical extremism mind-set among the people.

Moreover, Russia's anti-terrorism operations in North Caucasus often led to retaliation from extremist groups. Twin bombings killed 34 people and injured more than 100 in Volgograd prior to the opening of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

There is a long way to go for Russia to eliminate terrorist threats though it has established an anti-terrorism system with practical experience.

The position of Central Asia and North Caucasus is geographically crucial as it bridges Eurasia and adjoins the Middle East, where a large number of terrorists went to fight the "holy war" from or through this region, or come back to conduct terrorist activities after they honed their terror skills elsewhere.

In a word, the anti-terrorism situation in Central Asia and North Caucasus still remains tense, and not only countries of the region but also their neighboring states in Europe and Asia are faced with similar terrorist threats. Endi