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It is this very lack of coherence that makes the upsurge in Islamist violence such a global threat, even as it is used by some to minimize the nature of the danger. However informal, ill-organized or lacking in specific ties, Islamist extremism is a scourge unconstrained by geography.

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Russia said a video released yesterday by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), showing a child shooting to death two men alleged to be Russian spies, resembled a “provocation.”

The video, posted on al-Hayat, ISIS’ media arm, was “doubtful,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said today by phone. “Our security services will be analyzing it closely. It looks like someone wanted to stage yet another provocation against Russia.”

Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, has declined to comment on the execution video. The Russian Embassy in Syria said it can’t confirm whether any FSB agents have been killed, according to state news service RIA Novosti.

However, Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security services with New York University, told The Washington Post it was plausible that the men were working in some capacity for the FSB.

“These guys by their own admission were FSB assets rather than officers and the tradecraft described is plausible,” Galeotti said in an e-mail. “The FSB can and does operate abroad in support of its domestic security mission and given the concern about connections between IS and the North Caucasus insurgents, then it is highly likely that the FSB is seeking to penetrate the former.”