Russian investigators believe one of the two women suicide bombers responsible for this week’s deadly attacks in the Moscow subway was a 17-year-old girl, the widow of an insurgent leader from the Caucasus Mountains in southern Russia. via NY Times

Top Islamist militant Umalat Magomedov was shot dead during a security operation in December 2009. His wife pictured her as Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova has a strong resemblance to one of the women terrorists on subway-attack video footage and photos.

Young Muslim women mostly from strife-torn Chechnya, they are called Black Widows, having lost husbands and relatives in two wars Russia fought against Islamist rebels since 1994 in and around Chechnya.

In recent years, the black-clad women have blown up two airliners, detonated at a rock concert and attacked the Moscow metro twice. They were among the band of Chechen terrorists who died along with at least 130 hostages in a Moscow theater in 2002. via USA Today

The Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism found that Chechen female suicide bombers are more lethal than men, killing an average of 21 people per attack, compared with 13 for males. Three pairs of sisters were among the nine Black Widows rigged with explosives in the 2002 Dubrovka theater attack.

While women still make up only 3% of terrorist incidents from 1980 to 2001, according to Debra Zedalis from the U.S. Strategic Studies Institute, there’s growing concern about the radicalization of women in all countries. Not only do some women embrace the cause of martyrdom without prompting, but terrorism expert Mia Bloom says there’s growing pressure on the women to take action, where local Islamic leaders loosen the rules on women’s ability to travel and other typically-constrained activities among radial Muslims.

Alexander Cherkasov, who has monitored the region over 15 years for the human rights group Memorial, says that “Vengeance is what drives them… It’s an endless flow linked to ruthless counterterrorism methods: Security forces abduct people, detain them in secret prisons … 3,000 people in Chechnya in the last 10 years.” via USA Today

We hate admitting ignorance, but until now, we’ve not looked at the geographical puzzle of this region. It may interest readers as well. Anne