Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Nalchik resident suspected of financing terrorism

2024-03-21

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] A resident of Nalchik has been put on the wanted list, suspected of collecting money for a terrorist organization, investigators reported.

As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, in May 2023, a military court recognized Nalchik resident Khabibulla Isaratov as a member of the terrorist organization "Caucasus Emirate"* and sentenced him to 10.5 years in prison.

The creation of the Caucasus Emirate was announced on October 7, 2007 by the president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Dokku Umarov. In June 2015, militants of the Caucasus Emirate swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State terrorist organization, according to the Caucasian Knot material "Caucasus Emirate *".

A criminal case has been opened against a resident of Nalchik under Part 1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (financing of terrorist activities), the ICR department for Kabardino-Balkaria reported.

According to investigators, in January 2015, the woman “with the aim of participating in the activities of the international terrorist organization Caucasus Emirate” moved to Syria and “joined the ranks of an illegal armed group.” “Subsequently, while living in the territory of a neighboring state, in order to finance terrorist activities, she organized through a banking application the collection of funds to provide resources for the organization,” says the publication posted on March 19 on the department’s website.

The suspect has been put on the international wanted list, the report says. “The investigation is taking measures to collect evidence, as well as to establish other possible facts of violation of criminal law,” the Investigative Committee noted.

Part 1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for from seven to 15 years of imprisonment.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

A resident of Nalchik was sentenced to a long term for swearing an oath to the leader of the Caucasus Emirate

2023-05-27

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] A court in Rostov-on-Don found Khabibulla Isaratov guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and sentenced him to 10.5 years in prison. According to the investigation and the court, while in Nalchik, Isaratov swore an oath to the leader of the Caucasus Emirate*.

Khabibulla Isaratov was found guilty of activities of a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation, the press service of the Southern District Military Court reported today.

"It was established that on March 21, 2022, in the city of Nalchik, he joined the banned terrorist organization" Emarat Kavkaz, recorded the process of taking the oath to its leader on camera and sent the recording via the Internet.

The court sentenced Isaratov to 10.5 years in a strict regime colony, the first two years and six months of his term he must serve in prison, according to a message on the Telegram channel of the Southern District Military Court.

The case went to court on September 30, 2022, 17 meetings were held, the verdict was delivered today, indicated in the case card on the court website.

As follows from the data in the list of extremists and terrorists on the Rosfinmonitoring website, Khabibulla Isaratov is from Orel, he is 19 years old.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 7, 2007, the President of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) Dokku Umarov announced the creation of the "Caucasus Emirate" in his address.

In June 2015, militants belonging to the structural subdivisions of the Caucasus Emirate* swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State* terrorist organization banned in Russia by a court, Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the Caucasian Knot material, Caucasus Emirate * . After the oath to the leader of the IS militants from the structural divisions of the "Caucasus Emirate"

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

A resident of Nalchik was sentenced to a long term for swearing an oath to the leader of the Caucasus Emirate

2023-05-24

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] A court in Rostov-on-Don found Khabibulla Isaratov guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and sentenced him to 10.5 years in prison. According to the investigation and the court, while in Nalchik, Isaratov swore an oath to the leader of the Caucasus Emirate*.

Khabibulla Isaratov was found guilty of activities of a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation, the press service of the Southern District Military Court reported today.

"It was established that on March 21, 2022, in the city of Nalchik, he joined the banned terrorist organization," Emarat Kavkaz, recorded the process of taking the oath to its leader on camera and sent the recording via the Internet.

The court sentenced Isaratov to 10.5 years in a strict regime colony, the first two years and six months of his term he must serve in prison, according to a message on the Telegram channel of the Southern District Military Court.

The case went to court on September 30, 2022, 17 meetings were held, the verdict was delivered today, indicated in the case card on the court website.

As follows from the data in the list of extremists and terrorists on the Rosfinmonitoring website, Khabibulla Isaratov is from Orel, he is 19 years old.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 7, 2007, the President of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) Dokku Umarov announced the creation of the "Caucasus Emirate" in his address . In June 2015, militants belonging to the structural subdivisions of the Caucasus Emirate* swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State* terrorist organization banned in Russia by a court, Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the Caucasian Knot material, Caucasus Emirate * . After the oath to the leader of the ISIS militants from the structural divisions of the "Caucasus Emirate."

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

More Action In Chechnya As Count Dooku Pledges More Operations During Ramadan

2007-09-25

Jihad Unspun. Salt to taste.

Moderator note: this is how you trim a JU article.

Just as success in Iraq is a myth, so is the war is over propaganda in Chechnya as the Mujahideen continue on the steadfast path with more attacks reported as Chechen President Dokku Umarov released a Ramadan statement on the state of affairs in the Caucasus.

According to reports from Qoqaz on September 10, 2007, a Russian official and 3 other soldiers were killed in Najiorot. The unit of Commander Maqrabi the leader in the Najirot quarter destroyed a military Jeep (Wazak) that was carrying a Russian officer along with three of his soldiers. All on board were killed in this operation that comes after careful tracking.

Officer Killed In Vendeno
In Vedeno, the intelligence of the Mujahideen tracked a house of one of the Chechens, where a Russian officer frequented to drink and gamble with his friend. Immediately, Commander Taifoon, one of the leaders of the Vedeno quarter, along with his assistant went to the house, raided it and killed the Russian officer. As for the owner of the house he accepted his mistake and declared his repentance and regret. He was released.

President Dokku Umarov, Assures The Steadfastness Of The Mujahideen And More Operations In Ramadan

Guess the check from Arabia cleared, huh?

President Dokku Umarov in a letter directed to the Muslim Ummah on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan that operations of the Mujahideen and their steadfastness in the face of the Russian occupation would continue. He said that the daily operations of the Mujahideen against the Russian army are harvesting what is unimaginable in lives and equipment. The greatest evidence for this, Umarov said is the banning of the media and preventing journalists from entering Chechnya, in fear that the world will see the failure that Russian army.

Chechen President Umarov also called on the Muslims Ummah, especially during the blessed month of Ramadan to stand by the Chechen issue and the Chechen Muslim nation who has chosen freedom and Islam over slavery and Russian imperialism that has resulted in occupation and the exile of its people.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Basayev, Count Dooku admit to financial problems

2006-04-22

After a long winter, Chechnya's top two separatist military leaders came out this week rattling the sabers. Shamil Basayev threatened to spread the flames of war throughout the entire Caucasus. And in similarly bellicose remarks, separatist Vice President Dokku Umarov pledged to win Chechnya's "freedom" and never ask for peace with Russia. But the two men also admitted to problems within the movement.

Springtime usually brings talk of new offensives in Chechnya.

On April 19, the pro-independence Daymokh and Kavkaz Center websites released a video address made by Shamil Basayev, the deputy prime minister of the Chechen separatist government. The video was shot in early February and it was unclear what took Basayev so long to release it.

In the course of his seven-minute address, Basayev once again threatened the Kremlin with new attacks throughout the Caucasus when spring comes. He also admitted to the physical hardship endured by his men. "We were able to get ready for the winter. To be honest, this winter was a little bit more difficult [compared to previous ones]. Today is the 5th of February, yet there are still snowdrifts everywhere," Basayev said. "We had a harsh winter. However, thanks to God's clemency, our mujahedins got through it without [any] big problems. With God's help, we hope it will go on like this [until winter ends]."

Basayev went on to detail some logistical improvements in the lives of his fighters: "Previously we used to heat our shelters with firewood, but the smoke was helping Russian helicopters and reconnaissance groups track down our fighters. Now we use gas canisters to heat our shelters. It has now become easier for us to prepare food and warm ourselves, day and night. This has made our life easier."

In an interview given to RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service this week, Umarov spoke of more serious problems. Umarov, who is vice president of the separatist movement and its most senior military commander after Basayev, said that while morale remains high among his fighters, finances are tight: "The only things our mujahedins lack today are time and money. Everything else they have. We can conduct any large-scale combat operations at any time. Still, we need to ensure they will bring us political dividends [because] this kind of operation requires important financial and human resources."

Umarov said that lack of funds is preventing the separatist movement from recruiting new fighters across the North Caucasus region. It is in Kabardino-Balkaria, he said, that logistical problems are the most acute. "The situation with funds and weapons is bad there. People there have absolutely no combat experience. They are peaceful people who are rebelling against the [state] arbitrariness that is targeting Muslims in those [North Caucasus] republics," Umarov said. "They can at any time go over our heads and get killed.We are brothers in faith and this is why we are helping them and trying to restrain them."

Umarov was considered a possible heir to President Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed by Russian troops in March 2005. Yet, the Chechen separatist movement eventually chose the more radical Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev as its leader to succeed Maskhadov.

Umarov has reportedly had troubled relations with Basayev, although both leaders continue to coordinate their military operations together. Aleksei Makarkin, the deputy head of Moscow's Center for Political Technologies think tank, told RFE/RL he believes Umarov is indeed in dire financial straits and has launched what could be described as a fund-raising operation.

"Probably [Umarov] has grievances toward those people abroad who control the financial sources of the [independence movement]. There is, within this [movement], one group that advocates a radical form of Islam and that is directly linked to Arab circles," Umarov said. "On the other hand, there are [people like] Umarov who represent Sufi Islam, which is traditional in Chechnya. As far as we understand, Arab funds go preferably to those field commanders who [like Basayev] advocate a radical form of Islam. There are indeed difficulties here and it is unlikely that Umarov, with his ambitions, can satisfy himself with a largely symbolic role of vice-president whose prerogatives are unclear. Probably he wants real money for his fighters, which could explain his rather straight comments."

Russian media has speculated that the death of Maskhadov and his replacement by Sadulayev paved the way for an Arab takeover of the separatist military leadership. But Umarov dismissed those reports as Kremlin propaganda. "Let them show where those Arabs are and how many of them there are in Chechnya at the moment. I could hardly count five of them myself. Those Arabs fight wherever there is a jihad. They are fulfilling their Muslim duties. We can not be free and we can not be Muslims if we don't first win our freedom. Only if we win our freedom we can be Muslims. What we are building now is a free Muslim state."

Could those simmering tensions possibly herald a rift between Umarov and the rest of the Chechen separatist leadership?

Russia expert Makarkin thinks probably not -- at least in the immediate future. He says that, unlike other advocates of Sufi Islam who chose to break with the radical branch of the underground movement, Umarov has opted for a more pragmatic approach. According to Makarkin: "Umarov's anti-Russian feelings are even stronger than his concerns about the Arabs. He and Basayev are rivals, including on the financial level. But, as of today, they remain together."

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Basayev plans to cross the Volga

2006-01-18

Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basaev gave an interview to Kavkazcenter that the separatist website posted on January 9. Basaev, who holds the titles of "First Deputy Prime Minister of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, head of the Military Committee-Majlis ul-Shura, and Military Emir of the mujahideen of the Caucasus," was asked what were the "objectives" and "tasks" of the "assault operation" in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, on October 13. Basaev responded that the operation's aim was to "strike at the enemy" but that it was "also partially a rebellion of the Muslims of the KBR [the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic]," who were driven by "the neo-imperialist, satanic policy of Rusnya"âBasaev's favored derogatory term for Russiaâto liberate Nalchik from "the infidels and hypocrites." Basaev said that when he was in Kabardino-Balkaria two years ago he "failed to find any mutual understanding" among the majority of the Muslims there, but that "this spring they themselves summoned me there." The main achievement of the October 13 operation, he said, was "the conscious fulfillment by the Muslims of the KBR of their Islamic dutyâŠto the Almighty and the fulfillment of their duty to wage a holy war for their faith, freedom and honor."

Basaev was also asked if the Nalchik operation was part of "a strategy of widening the war" on the rebels' part or whether the widening of the war is "objective" in nature and therefore not dependent either on the Russian authorities or the rebel leadership. Basaev answered that the strategy of widening the "jihad"âwhich, he said, was taken by the separatists' Military Committee-Majlis ul-Shura in 2002âremains thus far "subjective" in nature, meaning that it is still dependent on the Russian authorities and the Chechen rebel leadership. "Rusnya has the chance to stop the war before we cross the Volga, which, incidentally, we plan to do in the summer of 2006," Basaev said.

Still, Basaev said the widening of the war "is being successfully implemented" in part thanks to the behavior of the Russian authorities and "their local puppets" toward Muslims in the North Caucasus. "Whatever they say verbally and whatever labels they pin on us, they are showing by their actions that this war is being waged not against the freedom of the Chechens but against all the Muslims of Rusnya," he said. "Muslims do not have freedom of worship, mosques are being destroyed and shut down, Muslims are being subjected to abuse and torture because they wear beards, do not drink spirits and do not smoke. Even pregnant Muslim women are being insulted and beaten because they wear headscarves and dress modestly." Later on in the interview, Basaev claimed that a growing number of Muslims "are raising the issue of the declaration of a single Imam of the whole Caucasus" and that Chechen separatist president Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev is already "virtually" the imam of the whole Caucasus because "the mujahideen of the whole Caucasus have sworn allegiance to him." The rebel leadership, Basaev said, is planning to hold "a great unifying Majilis" this spring on the issues of naming a single Imam of the Caucasus and forming "a Shura of Alims of the Caucasus."

Basaev also attacked the Russian Orthodox Church, stating that "warlike Satanists led by the horned Putin" are in charge in Russia, and that the Russian Orthodox Church, or RPTsâwhich, he asserted, "is being served" by "residents" of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and military's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)âis in the vanguard of these evil forces. "The RPTs leadership has the same relationship to Christianity that the Kremlin-appointed muftis have to Islam," Basaev told Kavkazcenter. "Therefore, in the autumn, at a session of the Majlis of the Caucasian front in the city of Cherkessk, a decision was taken to declare the RPTs an extremist organization in the vanguard of Rusnya's colonialist imperialist policy and to ban its activity in the Caucasus until the end of the war."

Kavkazcenter also asked Basaev whether he had "final figures" for the number of rebel fighters killed during the October Nalchik raid. He said that 37 were killed, adding that a quarter of those "who earlier were presumed dead turned out to be alive." According to official Russian government claims, around 90 militants were killed in fighting. Basaev told Kavkazcenter that 217 rebels took part in the operation and that they were unable to bring in another 150 rebel fighters because the authorities discovered one of the rebel groups on the morning of October 13 and closed roads leading into Nalchik. Basaev also suggested, as have other observers, that many of those included in the official count of dead and arrested militants were in fact civilians. Basaev said the operation was a tactical defeatâ"because we were unable to achieve the goal we set ourselves"âbut strategically "a great victory," and would still have been so "even if all the 400 mujahideen brought in to this operation had died." Basaev indicated that he was in Nalchik at the time of the October 13 raid, telling Kavkazcenter that he left the city on the night of October 15.

Asked about the situation in Chechnya itself, Basaev said that after leaving Nalchik, he visited Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya, meeting with the "emirs" of most of the sectors of the rebels' Caucasian Front and visiting "many" rebel bases. Basaev said he subsequently spent a week in the mountains with rebel commander Dokku Umarov "and also held a council of the southwestern front with the participation of emirs of the Ingush and Ossetian sectors of the Caucasian Front whom I took with me when I visited Dokku." Basaev said he then visited a number of sectors of the eastern front and spent a week with Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev, reporting to him on "the situation throughout the Caucasus" and "discussing and agreeing on our plans of action for 2006." He and Sadulaev, Basaev told Kavkazcenter, did not "focus special attention on the pig show called âparliamentary elections in Chechnya' because, as our mujahideen say, âpigs may gruntâthe holy war goes on.'" Basaev claimed he was in Grozny at the time of Chechnya's parliamentary electionâwhich was held last November 27âand "saw the so-called voting on the deserted streets of the city."

Basaev concluded the interview by saying that the Nalchik raid showed Russia's weakness and vulnerability. "The jihad is expanding and the only difficulty we are experiencing now is with funding and media coverage of our jihad," he said. "But God willing we will solve these issues by the spring."

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Basayev interview with Kavkaz Center

2006-01-13

Check out the photo of him with Doku Umarov at the website. This is actually the most Islamist I've heard Basayev in awhile, I guess he's given up trying to appeal to a Western audience.
he First Deputy Prime Minister of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, head of the Military Committee - Majlis ul-Shura - and Military Amir of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris (AKA Shamil Basayev) has given an exclusive interview to the Kavkaz Center agency in which he touches upon the recent events in Kabardino-Balkaria, as well as the situation in the Caucasus.

Q: Moscow and the local puppet authorities are making vigorous attempts to impose their version of the events in Nalchik. In the Russian and western press all kinds of reasons are being put forward for what happened, from a Muslim rebellion to the laundering of money of "international terrorists". What were the objectives and the tasks of the assault operation in Nalchik on 13 October?

Basayev: Bismillahi-Rahmani-Rahim! (In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!)

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, Who made us Muslims and blessed us with Jihad on His Straight Path!

Peace and blessings to Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), His Family, his disciples and all of those who follow him till the Judgement Day!

And then:

Alhamdulillah (Praise to God), by the mercy of Allah, the Mujahideen of the Caucasian front carried out an assault operation against the Russian occupation forces and their national-traitor stooges. The purpose of this operation was to strike at the enemy. This indeed was also partially a rebellion of the Muslims of the Kabarda-Balkarian Republic (KBR) to liberate Nalchik from the infidels and hypocrites who were driven to this by Rusnya's (derogatory term for Russia) neo-imperialist, satanic policy.

Two years ago, I was in Kabarda-Balkaria and I failed to find any mutual understanding among the majority of the Muslims of the KBR, and this spring they themselves summoned me there.

The main achievement of this operation was the conscious fulfilment by the Muslims of the KBR of their Muslim duty (fard-ayn) to the Almighty and the fulfilment of their duty to wage a holy war for their faith, freedom and honor.

Q: The Kremlin is particularly grieved by the fact that local people who, as has always been claimed, were loyal to Moscow, took part in the assault operation in the town. Many commentators are speaking in this connection about a strategy of extending the war which has been taken up by the Chechen leadership. Others claim that the extension of the war is of an objective nature and does not depend on the wishes of either Moscow or Jokhar (Grozny). To what extent are these appraisals true?

Basayev: We adopted this strategy of extending the holy war at the majlis (council) in 2002 and, Praise to God, this is being successfully implemented. We are also being helped to a large extent in this matter by the Rusnya leadership and their local puppets.

Whatever they may say verbally, and whatever labels they like to pin on us, they are showing by their own actions that this war is being waged not against the freedom of the Chechens but against all the Muslims of Rusnya. Muslims have no freedom of worship, mosques are being destroyed and shut down and Muslims are being subjected to abuse and torture because they wear beards, do not drink spirits and do not smoke. Even pregnant Muslim women are being abused and beaten because they wear shawls and dress in a modest way.

The warlike Satanists, led by the horned (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, are running a show in the Kremlin and at the helm is the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) which is being served by the staff of the FSB (Federal Security Service) and the GRU (Main Counter-Intelligence Department).

The leaders of the ROC have the same attitude to Christianity as the muftis appointed by the Kremlin have towards Islam. That is why, in the autumn, at a session of the Majlis of the Caucasian front in the town of Cherkessk, a decision was taken to recognize the ROC as an extremist organization which is at the forefront of Rusnya's colonialist imperialist policy and to ban its activity in the Caucasus until the end of the war, and to put a stop to the ROC's extremist activities.

The expansion of the war is at the moment of a subjective nature and is dependent on the wishes of Jokhar and Moscow. Rusnya has an opportunity to end the war before we cross the Volga which, incidentally, we plan to do in the summer of 2006.

Q: The question of the two sides' losses and the numbers of Mujahideen who stormed military objectives in the town is a separate one. Moscow and its local puppet authorities claim that from 70 to 90 Mujahideen were killed during the fighting in Nalchik. They put their own losses at 35 troops and police. At the same time, the losses among innocent civilians numbered 14. Nevertheless, many of the inhabitants of Nalchik are saying that the special services are trying to present dead civilians as Mujahideen. Does the Mujahideen command have any final figures for the number of losses?

Basayev: Some 217 Mujahideen took part in this operation from our side and we were unable to bring in another 150 Mujahideen who had to close the main crossroads in the center of Nalchik. We were unable to bring them into the town from the Kashkhatau direction because the roads through Khasanya and Belaya Rechka were closed after one of our groups had been discovered by the infidels and hypocrites in the morning of 13 October, and we were unable to send vehicles after them.

Our losses numbered 37 dead Mujahideen. A quarter of the Mujahideen who earlier were presumed dead turned out to be alive. Losses among the infidels and hypocrites were "one-and-a-half dead and one very slightly wounded". (According to the figures of the Caucasian front headquarters, the enemy's overall losses were over 300 dead and wounded - Kavkaz-Tsentr)

As far as innocent civilians are concerned, it is no secret that Rusnya's power-wielding structures had a specific plan to arrest the Mujahideen. In Chechnya, for example, if any of the occupation power-wielding structures had failed to arrest or kill a single Mujahideen in the course of a week, then part of their wage bonus would be deducted.

Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that there were so many "dead and arrested Mujahideen" in Nalchik. That is precisely why, in my name, they declare all kinds of "flaming summers", (although I made no such statements) and then "successfully avert" them.

Of course, tactically, we suffered a defeat in this operation, because we were unable to achieve the goal we set ourselves. But, strategically, this was a great victory for us, even if all the 400 Mujahideen brought in to this operation had died.

In this connection, so that our enemies should understand this, one may quote the words of the Spartan King Leonidas which he said to his enemies in the battle of Thermopylae: "We lost the battle, but you lost the war."

God willing, the Rusists have lost this war!

Q: At first people were sceptical about the formation of the Caucasian Front. Most Russian commentators spoke about "the propaganda of the militants" and claimed that the Mujahideen did not have the strength for serious military operations. Such claims are no longer being made now. Another question is being asked in the press - what is the Caucasian Front? Is its formation not a sign of a radical change in the Mujahideen's strategy in the Caucasus? What is the vector of this strategy?

Basayev: Virtually all those who were not properly acquainted with the real situation were distrustful of the formation of the Caucasian front in May of this year. Some of our "well-wishers" were saying that Sheikh Abdul-Khalim was infatuated by a virtual war. Even (Radio Liberty journalist Andrey) Babitskiy grinned in disbelief when I told him that I had held a council meeting in Nalchik where the Caucasian Front had been formed and on the way home I nearly drowned crossing the Terek.

But we are fighting not in order to prove or show anything to anyone. We are working, through God's mercy, turning our plans into reality and not being distracted by the squealing of pigs.

The Caucasian Front is a structural unit of the CRI armed forces, and its formation is not the sign of a radical change in the Mujahideen's strategy in the Caucasus. It is simply the next step in extending the Jihad.

The recent decision by the Majlis of the Caucasian Front to destroy the colonists who are cooperating with Rusnya's occupation structures throughout the Caucasus may be termed a change in strategy.

But as far as a radical change of strategy is concerned, in this respect the Muslims of the Caucasus are feeling a stronger need to pool together their efforts to liberate themselves from Rusnya's colonialist imperial oppression. And more and more Muslims are raising the question of the proclamation of a single Imam of the whole Caucasus, although already today Sheikh Abdul-Khalim is virtually the imam of the Caucasus, because the Mujahideen of the whole Caucasus have sworn an oath of loyalty to him. We are planning to carry out in spring 2006 a great unifying Majlis on this question, and also on the question of forming a Shura of Alims of the Caucasus.

Q: What is the military situation in Chechnya?

Basayev: I left Nalchik on the night of 15 October and then visited Ossetia, Ingushetia and Chechnya. I met with the amirs of most of the sectors, visited many Mujahideen bases and was satisfied with their preparations for winter. I spent a week in the mountains with Dokku Umarov, had a pleasant stay with him, and also held a council of the southwest front with the participation of amirs of the Ingush and Ossetian sectors of the Caucasian Front whom I took with me when I visited Dokku. At the council we discussed certain matters regarding organization.

After that I visited a number of sectors of the eastern front and met my naib, Amir Nurdin, and the amirs of a number of sectors. By God's mercy, the situation is good and all units have made a successful transition to the winter period.

Then I visited our Supreme Amir Sheikh Abdul-Khalim and reported to him on the situation throughout the Caucasus. We spent a week discussing and agreeing on our plans of action for 2006.

We also decided not to focus special attention on the pig show called "parliamentary elections in Chechnya" because, as our Mujahideen say, "pigs may grunt - the Jihad goes on".

I was in Jokhar at the time of this pig show and I saw the so-called voting on the deserted streets of the city.

In Kokhar, the city center had been closed off because, they said, (Russian Interior Minister Rashid) Nurgaliyev was presenting awards to the hypocrites "for successfully staging" this show.

The Rusists are allocating huge sums and materials to encourage and keep the hypocrites on a lead, pinning all kinds of trinkets on their chests in the form of crosses called "Order of courage". And the infidels are pleased with their medals and hypocritically say: "This is not a cross, but a plus sign."

In Nalchik we could see clearly for the first time how weak and vulnerable Rusnya is when we noticed how the Rusists were hurrying to bring troops into the town from all over Rusnya, and still they do not have enough of them.

Putin's feigned toughness may be explained by Rusnya's weakness and its fear of the Mujahideen, and this also explains the cruelty and outrages being committed by the Rusists and their stooges in the Caucasus.

But whatever they do, it will all be in vain, God willing! Everywhere they go, the Mujahideen are successfully crushing the enemy and we will continue to destroy them until full victory.

The Jihad is expanding and the only difficulty we are experiencing now is with funding and media coverage of our Jihad. But God willing we will solve these issues by the spring.

And may Allah help us in His straight path! Allahu Akbar!

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Count Dooku profile

2006-01-10

From a (sorta) pro-Chechen source, but still some good info.

While warlord Shamil Basaev dominates the headlines of the Chechen conflict, a lesser-known guerrilla leader has worked his way into a crucial position in the Chechen leadership. Dokku Umarov was appointed vice-president in the new administration of President Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev in June 2005. A native of southwestern Chechnya, the 40-year-old Emir has already been entrusted with the command of several fronts beyond his original post in the southwestern sector. Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel noted as recently as last July that the northern district "is controlled by Umarov."

A veteran of the 1994-96 war, Umarov served as security minister in Aslan Maskhadov's postwar government. Umarov began the current war in 1999 as a field commander working closely with warlord Ruslan Gelaev. After the dual disasters of the evacuation of Grozny and the battle of Komsomolskoe in early 2000, Umarov and Gelaev crossed the mountains into the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia, where they rebuilt their commands. Georgian intelligence reported Umarov leading 130-150 fighters in the Gorge before his return to Chechnya in the summer of 2002 (Civil Georgia, January 20, 2003). Gelaev gave Umarov several Strela missiles, which Umarov's forces used to good effect against Russian helicopters in the fighting around Shatoi in 2003 (Chechenpress, December 4, 2002).

Gelaev was killed in February 2004 after a disastrous attempt to lead a group of fighters over the mountains of Dagestan into Georgia. After Gelaev's death, many of his men joined Umarov's command. Russian security services created a scenario based on the alleged testimony of a prisoner (Baudi Khadzhiev) in which Umarov urged Gelaev to undertake an operation in Dagestan that he knew would be fatal in order to take over Gelaev's command. The allegation was part of a long tradition of Russian reports about feuding commanders and dissension in the Chechen ranks. Gelaev's family was quick to point out that their clan and the Umarov family are closely related (an important consideration in clan-conscious Chechnya).

In early February of this year, Russian security suggested that Umarov and Basaev were arranging a meeting of Chechen and Arab field commanders in Grozny to mark the one-year anniversary of Gelaev's death (Vremya no. 16, February 2, 2005). Later in the month Maj.-Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian command in the North Caucasus, claimed that Russian special forces had destroyed three units of Umarov's command on their way to Azerbaijan to wipe out Gelaev's family at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Gelaev's death. The family's alleged declaration of blood vengeance against Umarov provided the motive. The details of this unlikely plot came from the interrogation of a mortally wounded Chechen (RIA Novosti, February 25, 2005). Several Ingush clans have also been reported as having declared blood vengeance against Umarov as a result of deaths suffered in the Nazran operation of 2004.

Like most Chechen field commanders, Umarov has been declared dead on several occasions. In the last year Russian forces have intensified their efforts to eliminate him. In January 2005, he was reported killed in a gun battle with Russian commandos near the Georgian border. In March, Umarov was reported as having been seriously wounded by a spetsnaz assassination team. After stepping on a landmine sometime later, Umarov was reported to have lost a leg, but was only injured. In April, Russian special forces destroyed a small guerrilla unit in a sevenâhour battle in Grozny after receiving intelligence that Umarov was with them, but he was not found among the dead.

Umarov struck back in an attack on Roshni-Chu in August, but in September the Russian Interior Ministry declared victory over Umarov's fighters, finding Umarov's "grave" in the process. In October, Umarov was again reported dead in the raid on Nalchik. In a new tactic designed to put pressure on resistance leaders, masked men in uniform abducted Umarov's father, brother, wife and baby. Umarov believes those responsible are members of the "Oil Regiment," a notorious loyalist unit better known for kidnappings than its nominal mission of guarding pipelines.

Chechen Duma Deputy Ruslan Yamadaev suggests that Umarov is currently part of Basaev's "terrorist wing" of the Chechen resistance, but Umarov distanced himself from Basaev after the latter claimed responsibility for the Beslan outrage (Interfax, March 9, 2005). Only a few months earlier, Umarov had played a leading role with Basaev in organizing the military assault on Nazran in Ingushetia (June 21-22, 2004). Umarov firmly refuted the value of terrorist attacks such as Beslan: "In the eyes of the resistance such operations have no legitimacy," he said. "We ourselves were horrified by what they did in Beslan" (RFE/RL, July 28, 2005). During the crisis Umarov was repeatedly identified by security services as the leader of the Beslan hostage-takers, a claim that has never been substantiated in any fashion. Umarov emphasized the military nature of his own war: "Our targetsâthese are the Russian occupation forces, their bases, command HQ's, and also their armed servicemen from the numbers of local collaborationists, who pursue and who kill peaceful Muslims. We will attack, where we think it's necessary. Civil objects and innocent civilians are not our targets" (Kavkaz Centre, July 1, 2004).
I think they're being a little too credulous of Doku here.
In May 2005 , Maj. Gen. Shabalkin accused Umarov of joining warlord Shamil Basaev and President Sadulaev in planning a suicide truck-bombing in Grozny. The trio were also said to be planning large-scale civilian massacres in several towns of the North Caucasus by using cyanide "in highly populated areas, key installations and in reservoirs." A Jordanian emissary of both al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood allegedly provided the cyanide. Proof of the plot was provided in the form of a photo of a Russian in a white lab-coat holding a vial of clear liquid, identified as cyanide. The strategic advantage the Chechen leadership might hope to gain through committing such outrageous atrocities remains unexplained. The allegations came at the same time Sadulaev was trying in his public statements to distance the resistance from terrorist methods.
Um, no offense but you could sorta say the same thing about Beslan or the 2002 theater hostage seige. That didn't stop Basayev from doing it ...
Four days after Shabalkin made these allegations, Umarov responded by promising large-scale military activities within Russia before the end of the year. This promise seems to have been fulfilled by the October raid in Nalchik, in which Umarov played a leading role (Chechenpress, May 9, 2005).

Umarov is one of the last veteran commanders from the 1994-96 Chechen-Russian war still alive and active in the fighting. He bears the scars and limp of multiple wounds, but his commitment to the conflict remains inflexible. He regards death in battle as an inevitability, and has publicly expressed his hope that those Chechen men who have not fully participated in the war "will all burn in the fire of Hell!" Although Umarov admits he has grown much closer to Islam during the last decade of conflict, he is openly scornful of suggestions that he is a "Wahhabi" or radical Islamist: "I have a whole [military] front," he said. "I go along that front and I don't see people fighting to bring the world Wahhabism or terror" (RFE/RL, July 28, 2005). It is unlikely that Umarov's new role as vice-president will interfere with his ongoing military operations. These days there is not a great deal of paperwork to do in the resistance government. Nevertheless, the appointment was hardly symbolic, considering the record of three successive violent deaths of Chechen presidents (four including the Russian-backed presidency of Akhmad Kadyrov). In the volatile and dangerous world of Chechen politics, Dokku Umarov now stands next in line for the leadership of the Chechen resistance, barring renewed aspirations for this role by Shamil Basaev.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Count Dooku declares the formation of Caucasian Front

2005-06-03

Notorious Chechen militant leader Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the electricity blackout in Moscow on May 24 â 25 and the fire that broke out in one of the capitalâs oldest theatres on the night of May 27.

Some observers say this is proof that rebel fighters are successfully carrying out a threat to move their military activities outside Chechnya. Others say it suggests the fighters are under extreme pressure, in particular from the so-called Kadyrovtsy, the armed militia loyal to pro-Moscow deputy prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov.

In statements published on the main Chechen Islamist website Kavkaz Centre, Basayev claimed that the disasters in Moscow at the end of May were no accident, but were carefully planned and executed acts of sabotage by Chechen fighters.

Basayev boasted, âOur diversionary groups have dealt a significant blow to the life support system of the Russian Empire. The success of the special operation has exceeded our expectations. Right now we are collecting information about the consequences of our attack on central Russia.â

A subsequent statement promised new attacks on Russian territory. It said, âAs we promised after the despicable murder of ex-president of the Chechen republic [Zelimkhan] Yandarbayev in 2004, we will do everything we can to bomb, blow up, hunt down, burn, set off gas explosions and [start] fires all over Russia.

âToday we have in our ranks, thanks to Allah, Muslims of many different nationalities, including Russians, who are on the path of jihad, as well as a number of non-Muslim sympathisers who are their assistants, and our capabilities are growing from one day to the next.â

The head of the pro-Moscow State Council of Chechnya, Tais Jabrailov, described Basayevâs claims as being a PR stunt. âIt used to be [Chechen commander] Salman Raduev who claimed responsibility for all that went on in the world. Now Basayev has taken over this role,â said Jabrailov.

âBasayev wants the attention of the leaders of international terrorist networks so that he can attract more funds for his illegal armed groups.â

However, there have been predictions that Basayev, who is now undisputedly the most powerful Chechen rebel leader after the killing of former pro-independence president Aslan Maskhadov in March, is planning a summer campaign of attacks.

On April 15, Chechnyaâs chief prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko said, âThe fighters are planning to make themselves heard and make use of the injections of cash which, unfortunately, they continue to receive. They are calling this summer âthe summer of fireâ.â

Two weeks later, Radio Liberty broadcast an interview with Chechen field commander Dokku Umarov, in which he announced the fightersâ intention to âcarry military actions over onto the territory of Russiaâ. Around the same time, Abdul-Khalim Saidulayev, the Muslim cleric named as successor to Maskhadov, announced the creation of a united âCaucasian Frontâ to stretch across the North Caucasus.

This Caucasian Front would include all the republics and regions of the North Caucasus, as well as âIchkeriaâ â as the rebels call Chechnya itself.

The last few months have indeed seen an upsurge of violence in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachai-Cherkessia between militants and the security forces.

However, Andrei Mikhailov, an officer with the FSB intelligence service, told IWPR that he regarded the latest statements as evidence of weakness rather than strength amongst the rebels. âAfter the killing of Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen separatists could no longer carry out a single manoeuvre,â he said.

âNow they have no single leader - the new âpresident of Ichkeriaâ, Abdul-Khadim Saidulayev, does not even have the doubtful legitimacy accorded Maskhadov. Bit by bit, they are losing the support of the population of Chechnya, without which it is almost impossible to wage a partisan war. It is this which is pushing them to announce the creation of all possible âfrontsâ and attempts to unleash military action outside Chechnyaâs borders.â

Mikhailov said the fighters had lost most of their leadership and were now broken up and isolated.

Pro-Moscow Chechen security boss Ramzan Kadyrov is also talking with confidence. With several thousand men under arms at his disposal, he has been organising military operations against the rebels in the mountains over the last few months, with Russian forces playing only a supporting role.

The burden of the fighting has fallen on the Kadyrovtsy as well as two other nominally pro-Moscow GRU military intelligence battalions, headed by Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Magomed Kakiev and thus known as âYamadayevtsyâ and âKakievtsyâ.

Kadyrov has accused the rebels of taking shelter in neighbouring republics and, in particular, in Dagestan.

âWe have got these devils on the run here, and now, realising that they will no longer get anywhere here, they hide in Dagestan,â he said. âBecause they realise that here there are real men, who wonât let them wreak havoc any longer. But over there they feel safer, because the police in Dagestan simply donât dare touch them.â

However, others warn that it would be premature to write off Basayev, who has also claimed responsibility for the attack on the Moscow theatre in 2002 and the Beslan school seizure last year.

âThe events of recent years clearly demonstrate that we should take Basayevâs pronouncements seriously,â said Chechen political commentator Murad Nashkhoev.

âIn 2003 he announced the start of âOperation Boomerangâ, after which suicide bombers carried out a series of large scale terrorist acts in Chechnya, its neighbouring regions, and Moscow. I think the creation of a Caucasian Front and the idea of transferring military actions onto Russian territory are his idea. This means he has the necessary resources, both in terms of manpower and of money.â

Nashkhoev said Basayev and his comrades had been âforced into a cornerâ and knew there was little chance of negotiations, so were attempting more desperate measures.

âEvery war has different components, a military aspect, a political aspect, an information components and support from the public. During the first Chechen war of 1994-6, the Chechen side had all these components,â said Umar Baisayev, a human rights monitor with the Memorial organisation in Grozny.

âNow the situation is far more complicated. The people of Chechnya are frightened and are unable to express their opinions; there is still an information blockade in the republic, and pro-independence representatives abroad have not managed to change western public opinion. But whether or not Basayev and Saidulayev will achieve peace by taking the fighting into Russia is difficult to say.

âIn my opinion, as long as Putinâs team remains in power, the war in Chechnya is unlikely to end.â

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Count Dooku sez he's going to expand the Chechen war

2005-05-11

Correspondent of the Radio Liberty's Chechen editorial staff, Aslan Ayubov, conducted a short interview with Dokku Umarov, the minister of national security CHRI and the commander of the Southwestern Front. On the correspondent's request to confirm the information about the new kidnappings by the Russian terrorists of his relatives, Dokku Umarov said that his 70-yrs old father, 45-yrs old brother, wife and six months old baby have been abducted. The direct executors of this kidnapping were the bandits from the so-called "petroleum regiment", which is commanded by some Adam Delimkhanov - a close relative of the Kremlin puppet, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Dokku Umarov also reported that the Russian special services using the same Kadyrovite bandits abducted several close relatives of Abdul-Vakhab Khusainov, the minister in the CHRI government. He also shared with the Radio Liberty's correspondent his fears related to the fact, that these hostages taken by Russian chastisers who are the relatives of the Chechen leaders, including the relatives of killed President Aslan Maskhadov, have been already secretly killed by Putin terrorists, because of publicity of these in formations in the world media. On words of the Radio Liberty correspondent about a lack of combat information from Chechnya, Dokku Umarov answered, that this lack of information testifies not about any reduction in intensity of military clashes, but only about the fact that Putin's regime suppresses the media, converted Chechnya into a zone that's closed for the independent journalists. He noted that in different regions of the country, and especially in the mountains and the foothills, a large scale fights with the occupiers go on and the enemy suffers heavy losses.

The correspondent asked a question about what consequences for the resisting forces entailed the death of President Maskhadov. Dokku Umarov answered, that this has been unconditionally heavy loss for the resistance and the whole Chechen people; however, on combat efficiency and solidarity of Chechen soldiers the death of Aslan Maskadov showed no negative consequences. According to Dokku Umarov, the Chechen command keeps under arms a necessary number of soldiers and possesses needed reserves in order that at an given moment to sharply strengthen a quantitative composition of forces of the Resistance.

On a question about the state and personal qualities of new Chechen President Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, Dokku Umarov said that the new Chechen leader has among the soldiers and the commanders unconditional authority as a brilliant expert of the norms of Sharia and the Chechen traditional laws, and that the Mujahiddeen are deeply impressed by a crystal honesty and justice of Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev. All the members of GKO - Madzhlisul Shura, all commanders and soldiers of resistance have already sworn the oath to the new Chechen President.

Correspondent asked about further plans of the GKO - Madzhlisul Shura. Dokku Umarov stated that intention of the Resistance is to move military actions to the enemy's territory, which until now, have been held by Aslan Maskadov's orders and combat operations were limited to the territory of Chechnya. However, now when the killings and abductions of Chechen innocent civilians not only have increased, but also got demonstrative nature, the GKO - Madzhlisul Shura made its decision still to start still in this year some large-scale operations on the territory of Russia.

At this moment, according to Dokku Umarov, regrouping of the Resistance units is going on, calculation of all available forces are determined for the directions of main attacks.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Toe tag for Rizvan Chitigov

2005-03-24

An influential warlord Rizvan Chitigov (aka Marine, American, Chemist) was killed in Chechnya yesterday. He was considered the third person in the Chechen resistance after Shamil Basayev and Dokku Umarov. Having terminated a special training course in the U.S., Chitigov, aka Marine, returned to Chechnya to command a tank battalion during the first Chechen war. During the second Chechen war, as the Federal Security Service (FSB) claims, he sent Shaheeds to Russian cities and planned terrorist attacks involving poison-gases.

Rizvan Chitigov, 38, was born and grew up in the village of Shali, Chechnya. Nearly the good half of the locals are relatives and friends of Chitigov. On the one hand it was good for him, since being outlawed he could always find shelter there. On the other hand, it was bad. The point is that, Shali is traditionally a peaceful village, therefore many of the warlord's friends have become his enemies in the recent years.

So, it is no wonder that Chitigov's wish to visit Shali about which he told one of his accomplices became known to many other people. Among those were Shali residents who work at the Criminal Investigation Department. "We knew that Chitigov who was spending winter in Baku, was to come last Sunday," one of the local detectives says. "So we got prepared to meet him: we invited Kadyrov's Special Forces unit [former Chechen president Akhmat Kadyrov's security service. Kommersant]. But we didn't know for sure where exactly Chitigov would put up at. We laid ambushes at several places simultaneously, but on Sunday night we started getting worried he was nowhere to be seen. We thought: have we frightened him away or just missed him?"

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Caucasus

Chechen jihadi talks about the Master Plan

2003-11-28

This is a standard propaganda release, but it does give us some more insight as to the whoâs who among the Caucasus krazed killers.
Question (Q): Ramzan, Jamaats play a special role in Chechen Resistance; as a rule they are ranked among the radical wing of the force fighting against Russian army in the Caucasus.
Ramzan (R): Jamaat means âa community of peopleâ in Arabic. But in Chechnya by Jamaat they mean militant groups led by an âamirâ (a commander) who are fighting in the name of Allah. This is where we are fundamentally different from other Chechens who have taken up arms to defend their Homeland and to fight for Chechnyaâs independence. For us the most important thing is not the status of our Republic but the impossibility to put up with the order they are imposing on us, which is alien to Muslims. We believe that Muslims cannot live according to the laws of kafirsâ (infidelsâ); Muslims have their own laws given to them by the Most High. These laws are called Sharia. We are fighting to establish the laws of Allah, Sharia laws in our land.

Q: And is there a difference between the ways Jamaat members and other fighters act in battle conditions?
R: I think there is a difference. Jamaat fighters are more disciplined, they donât smoke or drink. They keep all the rules imposed by Islam, they sense more keenly the power of Allah and his influence in our everyday life.

Q: Please, tell me what is the current situation inside the Resistance and in Chechnya in general?
R: During this year big changes have taken place in the Resistance, organizational as well as military changes. In the summer last year we started the process of uniting our forces and now you can say this process has virtually been completed. We have successfully overcome our differences and have now created a single structure to manage our troops. As you probably know, Chechnya can be divided into three areas. The area to the north of the Terek River we call the Northern Front, the rest is the Western Front (west of the Argun River) and the Eastern Front (east of the Argun River). Dokku Umarov is in command of the Western Front, and Abu al-Walid is in the command of the Eastern Front. The territory on the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia is under jurisdiction of Commander Khamzat (Ruslan) Gelayev. Concerning the Jamaats I would like to say that while we keep receiving financial and material support from our Chief Commander Amir Abu al-Walid, those of us who operate in Western Chechnya and in Ingushetia, are under the command of Amirs Umarov and Gelayev accordingly. This fact alone shows that we are all steadfastly following the order established by the leadership of the Chechen Resistance.

Q: From your words I can assume that you operate not only in Chechnya but all over the North Caucasus.
R: Yes, very much so. Not only we carry out raids to various areas in the Caucasus, but we also form local Jamaats, militant sabotage groups locally. We are joined by a lot of Kabardinians, Dagestanis, Karachaevans, Ingushetians and even Ossetians (Muslims).

Q: That means that those in Russia who say that you want to create a caliphate in the Caucasus from sea to sea, are right?
R: Yes, it is so. Since they are unwilling to negotiate with us, then weâll be doing what we can. And there is a lot we can do. Next year the war will seize the entire Caucasus from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. Apart from Ossetia and Ingushetia, this year another guerrilla war has already started in two areas of Dagestan bordering Chechnya. I swear by Allah, this is only the beginning. Russian authorities are well aware of this and this is why they are trying to organize formations of the local residents in the area who could resist us effectively. Similar process is taking place in Chechnya. But it will come to absolutely nothing. Having reached a certain level of confrontation inside Chechnya, Russia will sooner or later have to withdraw its troops beyond the Terek River, for instance. In that case we will need no more than two weeks to destroy all the pro-Russian puppet formations.

Q: Ramzan, I would like to go back to the beginning of our conversation. From what you said about Jamaats, I understand that you are guided solely by the Muslim world, by the Arab countries. But how would you explain the fact that Kadyrovâs election as Chechen President wasnât recognized by any Western, Christian countries, but by it was recognized by Islamic international organizations, who even sent their observers to the elections?
R: Most leaderships of Muslim countries have as much to do with Islamic world as FSB officer, mufti of Ingushetia Albogachiev. Ordinary Muslims are helping us and we are grateful for their support. By the way, I quite suppose that Western governments and their security services also secretly finance us through different Islamic funds and organizations. I am convinced that there are Western powers in whose interests it is to keep Russia permanently involved into such a slow-burning conflict as the war in the Caucasus.

Q: It is a known fact that Jamaat fighters are armed and equipped better than other Chechen groups. This is due to the fact that you have foreign support. Do you ever have any conflicts within the Resistance because of this?
R: We do sometimes. But if a commander cannot look after his men, he is simply a bad commander.

Q: What do you think about the actions of those who seized Nord-Ost (the Moscow theater events), who organized the blast in Tushino airfield in Moscow, etc.?
R: I support them fully. I donât believe we should separate Russian Government from the Russian people. Itâs Russian soldiers who are fighting in our land, they are the ones who kill our children, our wives, and our elderly. Russian pilots are bombing out cities and villages. They donât want to talk to us, they ignore us, so we will give them a dose of their own medicine. We have no warplanes, so we will be blowing ourselves up in Russian cities. Iâve been in Russia recently, checking on the situation at the train stations in Rostov and Mineralnye Vody. These train stations are not guarded well and there are freight trains with oil and chemicals. We shall definitely repeat the Nord-Ost events, but this time it will be something of a technological disaster. I donât know how to blow up a chemical plant, but if somebody explains it to me, Iâll do it. If Putin thinks that industrial and military facilities are well-protected, he is wrong. They are not.

I posted this because itâs a fairly good look at the mindset of the Chechen jihadis (and the difference between them and al-Qaeda is largely one of semantics). This war isnât about independence for them, itâs about conquest and should they ever manage to drive Russia out of Chechnya proper they plan on spreading it to other regions just like Khattab did when he invaded Dagestan.

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