Russia's Bloody Backyard

The North Caucasus, annexed by Russia in the 1800s and fiercely struggling for independence pretty much ever since, has turned into a killing field right on the edge of Europe. It may not get the headlines of Iraq or Afghanistan, but the raging Islamist insurgency here is getting increasingly deadly.

FEBRUARY 18, 2011

The republics of Russia's North Caucasus region have undergone centuries of invasion, warfare, and civil strife. Here, a village in the rugged mountains of Dagestan.

ADELE BRARD/AFP/Getty Images