While it is stoking the flames of jihad in Syria by supporting Bashar al-Assad, Russia also faces a growing jihadist threat within its own borders. Leon Aron writes:
Today, an estimated 20 million Muslims live in Russia, up from 14.5 million in 2002. While the vast majority of these men and women are peaceful, a small but growing number follow the fundamentalist teachings of Salafism and Wahhabism, ultra-conservative movements within Sunni Islam. . . . The impact of that radicalization is already apparent in central Russia, home to the Tatars, Russia’s largest Muslim ethnic group. . . .
International terrorist organizations have taken notice and have begun to ramp up their activities in Russia. Moscow has become the base of operation for an estimated 300 to 500 Islamic State recruiters. . . .
The Russian foreign ministry estimates that there are 5,000 people from Russia and the former Soviet Union fighting alongside Islamic State. (Independent observers put the number as high as 7,000.) Today, Russian is the third-most-popular Islamic State language, after Arabic and English. Russian graffiti reportedly seen in Darayya, Syria, reads: “Today Syria, tomorrow Russia! Chechens and Tatars rise up! Putin, we will pray in your palace!”
Read more on Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russias/2015/11/13/3f456156-887c-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html