Pokalova - Chechnyas Terrorist Network

CHECHNYAS TERRORIST NETWORK

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James J. F. Forest, Series Editor

Copyright 2015 by Elena Pokalova

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pokalova, Elena.

Chechnyas terrorist network : the evolution of terrorism in Russia's North Caucasus / Elena Pokalova.

pages cm. (Praeger security international) (PSI guides to terrorists, insurgents, and armed groups)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9781440831546 (hardback) ISBN 9781440831553 (ebook) 1. TerrorismPreventionRussia (Federation)Chechnia. 2. TerrorismRussia (Federation)Chechnia. 3. TerrorismPreventionRussia (Federation)Caucasus, Northern. 4. TerrorismRussia (Federation)Caucasus, Northern. 5. Caucasus, Northern (Russia)Autonomy and independence movements. I. Title.

HV6433.R9P646 2015

363.325094752dc232014038634

ISBN: 9781440831546

EISBN: 9781440831553

19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5

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In 2013 Russia was busy preparing to host the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in February 2014. The decision to hold the games in Sochi was controversial. The city is located in direct proximity to the North Caucasusa region that has been engulfed in unrest and insurgency since 1991. Numerous security concerns haunted the preparation for the games as Doku Umarov, leader of the Caucasus Emiratedesignated in Russia as a terrorist organizationurged his followers to attack the site of the games to prevent the Olympics from taking place. Umarov called for the peoples of the North Caucasus to boycott the Olympics that would demonstrate President Putins glory in Sochia site at which Russia had exterminated a number of Caucasus ethnicities throughout history.

Despite Putins assurances that Sochi was perfectly safe, panic and fear set in as a series of terrorist attacks took place in the southern Russian city of Volgograd just weeks before the opening of the games. On October 21, in a suicide bombing of a public bus, six people were killed and 37 injured. On December 29 another suicide bombing claimed the lives of 18 people; another 44 were injured. The next day, on December 30, ten people were killed and 23 injured in a third suicide terrorist attack. These attacks continued the string of suicide bombings that had been staged by members of the Caucasus Emirate across Russia for years. The attacks taking place on the verge of the Olympics turned out to be among the more severe terrorist attacks of the last few years. Vilayat Dagestan, a division of the Caucasus Emirate, claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned that the group was prepared to carry out more attacks during the Olympics.

The threats to attack the Sochi Olympics did not materialize. However, even though no terrorist attacks took place during the Olympics, the declared intentions to sabotage the games demonstrated the scope of the threat emanating from Russias North Caucasus. In 2007 the Caucasus Emirate became an umbrella organization that united terrorist cells that had formed in the North Caucasus and beyond. Today the Emirate no longer exclusively represents the Chechen ethno-nationalist separatist project. Instead, the organization has expanded to unite the extremist cells of the North Caucasus, as well as Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, against occupation by Russian infidels. Further, under Umarovs leadership, the organization has transitioned to encompass the rhetoric of global Islamist jihadi groups. In 2007 Umarov declared that Russia was no longer the only enemy against whom he was waging war. In addition to Russia, anyone who had attacked Islam became Umarovs enemy as well. Umarov has been implicated in terrorist attacks that include the bombings of the Nevsky Express train, the 2010 suicide bombings at the Moscow metro stations of Lubianka and Park Kultury, and the 2011 suicide attack at Moscows international Domodedovo airport. In 2012 North Caucasusinspired terrorism reached Kazan, the capital of Russias Tatarstan.

Despite being a terrorist organization on UN and U.S. terrorist lists, the Caucasus Emirate has not attacked foreign targets. Umarovs call to sabotage the Olympic Games appears to have been more of a propaganda move than an indication that the group wanted to attack international actors. While Umarovs rhetoric grew to appeal to global jihadis, including radicalized Islamist cells present in Russia and the former Soviet Union, his insurgency, network of support, funding, and terrorist attacks have remained predominantly local. Umarovs attempt to situate the Caucasus Emirate within global jihadi networks came at a time when the organization was experiencing an existential crisis and needed to strategically adapt in order to survive. Umarov was able not only to preserve the organization but also to expand it to the territories of Russias Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. However, no known Caucasus Emirate cells have been created outside Russia.

The activities and targets of the Caucasus Emirate have remained predominantly local. The group finds supporters among the peoples of the North Caucasus who have become disgruntled over the socio-economic and political conditions created by the local pro-Russian governments in the North Caucasus republics. The only terrorist attack with explicitly international implications committed by the Caucasus Emirate was the 2011 bombing of Moscows Domodedovo international airport. Besides this attack, no targets with international significance have come under attack from the Caucasus Emirate. Neither has the organization committed any terrorist attacks outside Russia, even though individuals with links to the North Caucasus have been implicated in international terrorist plots. In fact, the leaders of the Caucasus Emirate were adamant in disassociating themselves from any international terrorism after the attack on the Boston Marathon.