The Caucasus remains to be tense as a powerful blast rocked the North Ossetian capital of Vladkavkaz killing at least eleven people and injuring several others. The blast took place around 11:15 GMT or 14:15 local time on a busy market just when the victims were getting off a packed minibus. The North Caucasus region bordering Russia with Georgia is extremely volatile with frequent attacks on Russian interests being carried out by Islamic insurgents fighting for a separate state in Chechnya.

The blasts are a stark reminder to the Russian leadership that Islamic terror threat is still a matter of grave concern that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later even though the Russian army has been successful in giving a stable look to the insurgency-infested province of Chechnya.

Frequent violence in the regions bordering Georgia gives Moscow a diplomatic boost in bullying Tbilisi which the Kremlin blames for the instability in the Caucasus. August’s war between Russia and Georgia over the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is still fresh in the minds and the people of the region and skeptics believe Moscow could use the violence in its southern fringes as a precedence to destabilize pro-western Georgia territorially and militarily.

As of now no one has claimed responsibility for the improvised blasts, but suspected Islamic insurgents are believed to be behind the crime. Many human rights groups blame the violence as a direct result of Russian military atrocities in Chechnya and its surrounding areas.

An inquiry has been ordered into the blast which the Russian authorities are saying was well planned and well coordinated giving rise to speculations that Moscow faces a renewed threat from armed Islamic insurgent groups getting equipped in order to fight for a separate homeland in Chechnya.