William Plotnikov was a Canadian Muslim convert who died fighting his last battle alongside Islamist insurgents in the Russian region of Dagestan. At the time, few people beyond local villagers noticed William Plotnikov's death in a region where skirmishes occur daily, but almost a year on, Plotnikov has emerged into the limelight following the Boston Marathon bombings, Reuters reported.
Plotnikov's life story is drawing similarities to the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. "Both were young men when they plunged into Islam, possibly out of frustration with the challenges of their adopted home countries and both were passionate boxers," Reuters reported on Tuesday. Plotnikov joined the insurgency and retreated to the rebel camp with other militants in the mountains south of Makhachkala. He was killed in skirmishes with Russian forces in 2012.
Like Plotnikov, Tsarnaev traveled to Dagestan in the first half of 2012 to explore Islam, living within 75 miles of each other on the Caspian Sea coast, according to Reuters.
U.S. investigators have suspected that Tsarnaev's experience in Dagestan played an important role in his radicalization, particularly if he met any militant during his stay at his home in Makhachkala, the regional capital.
Time Magazine also published a story stating that teenage Islamist Mahmud Mansur Nidal met numerous times with Tsarnaev while they were in Dagestan last year. Nidal, under investigation by Russia's Center for Combating Extremism, was an insurgent and liason for a Dagestan-based underground insurgency movement who also helped recruit new members for the group for attacks on Russia, news reports said.
Nidal was killed by Russian special forces on May 19.
Tsarnaev left Dagestan two days after Plotnikov's death, and flew back to the United States via Moscow.
He was shot dead by police nine months later after the Boston bombings, which killed three people and wounded 264.
