The Boston marathon bomber suspects are ethnic Chechens who spent some of their childhood in Dagestan and then moved to the United States.<br /><br />Chechnya and Dagestan are republics of Russia - in the country's far southwest. They are predominantly Muslim. <br /><br />In the 1990s Russia fought two wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya. That increased tensions and guerilla attacks across the region.<br /><br />Chechen rebels have carried out bombings and hostage-takings across Russia in recent years.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's David Chater has more from Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, where the boys spent some of their childhood.
