As protests flare with concomitant government-backed violence in Iran, it can be easy to miss the ongoing unrest in other parts of the world.
Today, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, president of the Russian republic of Ingushetia, was injured during a car bomb attack on his convoy in the town of Nazran (the former capital of Ingushetia, actually). This is just the latest in a string of attacks on government officials in Ingushetia, a string that has already resulted in the deaths of the deputy chief supreme court justice (hit while dropping her kids off at school) and a former vice prime minister (shot outside his home).
Even as Chechnya has "calmed down," Ingushetia has picked up more than its share of refugees from its neighboring state. At the same time, its government has a dubious record when it comes to dealing with internal dissent, including the highly suspicious death in custody of vigorous critic Magomed Yevloyev (whose site, I note, is no longer active).
Despite its apparent pacification of Chechnya via tremendous violence, and the smashing of the Georgian offensive, the Russian government has not managed to actually stop elements of its southern Muslim minorities from taking violent action against local authorities. The latest string of attacks on Ingushetian authorities may well motivate military action much in the mode of the Ossetian and Chechen conflicts. If so, we can expect a new wave of refugees from Ingushetia, but whether they will try to return to Chechnya or perhaps spill into the Ossetias is unclear.