Caucasus Emirate

 ( Anti-communist Organizations In Russia ) 

Starting in November 2014, mid-level commanders of the Caucasus Emirate began publicly switching their allegiance from Emirate leader Aliaskhab Kebekov to the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, following al-Baghdadi and his group's declaration of a caliphate earlier in the year. By February 2015, many commanders of the Emirate's Vilayat Nokhchicho and Vilayat Dagestan had defected. Loyalists within the Emirate released statements denouncing them, and accused the most senior defector, Rustam Asildarov, of betrayal. Vilayat Nokhchicho leader Aslan Byutukayev pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi in June 2015, and an audio statement was released in the same month purportedly pledging allegiance on behalf of militants in Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. On 23 June 2015, IS's spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani accepted these pledges and announced the creation of a Caucasus Province, a new branch operating in the North Caucasus region. Al-Adnani named Asildarov as its leader and called on other militants in the region to follow him.

The Caucasus Emirate continued to operate independently, but suffered further high-profile losses, including the killing by Russian security forces of Kebekov in April 2015, and his successor Magomed Suleimanov several months later. By late 2015, the militants still operating in Russia's North Caucasus Republics had largely unified under IS's Caucasus Province. The Caucus Emirate continued to operate in Syria, fought in the October–December 2015 Aleppo offensive, and took part in the defense of rebel-held Greater Idlib against Syrian Army offensives in 2018 and 2019.

The group seemingly disappeared after 2019, however rumors of resurgence of Caucasus Emirate were spread in 2023, though this claim has yet to be confirmed.

• Vilayat Nokhchicho (Chechnya) Self proclaimed capital city was Dzokhar-Ghala () (Grozny)
• Vilayat Galgayche (Ingushetia and North Ossetia) Self proclaimed capital city was Magas (), until 9 May 2009, and Buro () (Vladikavkaz) from 9 May 2009
• Vilayat Cherkessia (Adygea and southern part of Krasnodar Krai) Self proclaimed capital city was Miequapa () (Maykop)
• Vilayat Nogai Steppe (Stavropol Krai and northern part of Krasnodar Krai) Self proclaimed capital city was Nogai-Shakhar () (Stavropol)
• Vilayat Dagestan (Dagestan) Self proclaimed capital city was Shamilkala () (Makhachkala)
• United Vilayat of Kabarda-Balkaria-Karachay (Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia) Self proclaimed capital cities were Nalshik (), Tirniawuz (), Qarachay shakhar()
• Vilayat Iriston (North Ossetia) Self proclaimed capital city was Dzhikhadqæw () (Vladikavkaz) was abolished in 2009 in a decree issued by Umarov that subsumed it into Vilayat Galgayche

In August 2008 Movladi Udugov, an ideologue and a spokesman for the Caucasus Emirate, said that "as Dokka Umarov very accurately observed, this Islamic state does not yet have any borders. It’s not correct to say that we want to build some sort of enclave on the territory of these North Caucasus republics. No, today many Muslims living in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Russians from the most widely differing regions of Russia who have accepted Islam, swear an oath of allegiance to Dokka Umarov as the legitimate leader of the Muslims. And wherever he is – in Moscow, Blagoveshchensk, Tyumen – when a Muslim swears that oath, he becomes a fighting unit. Just because these people are not visible in their cities just now and are not active, that doesn’t mean that they won’t become active in the future."

In a May 2011 interview posted on the pro Caucasus Emirate Kavkaz Center website, Umarov stated "Now we know that we should not secede, but must unite with our brothers in faith. We must recapture Astrakhan, Kazan Khanate, Siberia and indigenous Muslim lands."

In May 2009, Umarov established a ruling consultative body, or Majlis-ash-Shura, for the Caucasus Emirate consisting of his top commanders. At the time of the announcement, the positions and the individuals holding them were:

• Supyan Abdullayev – Naib (Deputy) Emir – deceased 28 March 2011
• Akhmed Yevloyev – Military Emir and Emir of Vilayat Galgayche – arrested 9 June 2010
• Anzor Astemirov – Qadi and Emir of the United Vilayat of Kabarda-Balkaria-Karachay – deceased 24 March 2010
• Umalat Magomedov – Emir of Vilayat Dagestan – deceased 31 December 2009
• Aslambek Vadalov – Emir of the Eastern Sector of Vilayat Nokhchicho – arrested 5 November 2016
• Tarkhan Gaziyev – Emir of the South-Western sector of Vilayat Nokhchicho – arrested 5 November 2016
• Muhannad – Emir of the Ansar – deceased 21 April 2011

The Caucasus Emirate maintained a Supreme Sharia Court, which was headed by a Qadi. This position had been held by Anzor Astemirov (killed in March 2010), Magomed Vagabov (killed August 2010), and Aliaskhab Kebekov (killed in April 2015).

In early 2009, Dokka Umarov announced the revival of the shahid unit Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs, Surge In North Caucasus Violence Reflects Diversification Of Resistance Tactics , Radio Liberty, August 18, 2009 which has been led by Said Buryatsky (killed March 2010) and Aslan Byutukayev.

Umarov died due to food poisoning on 7 September 2013. He was succeeded by Aliaskhab Kebekov (killed April 2015) and Magomed Suleymanov (killed August 2015).

In 2013, a Chechen known as Salahuddin Shishani was appointed as the official representative of the Caucasus Emirate in Syria. In December 2013, the Chechen-led Syrian jihadist group Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA) split away from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and appointed Salahuddin as their new commander, emphasising that they wished to continue respecting the Oath of Allegiance they had made to the Caucasus Emirate's Dokku Umarov. Following his appointment as the Emirates new leader, Aliaskhab Kebekov advised the North Caucasians in Syria to remain independent rather than align with other groups. He also voiced support for Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front and criticised Abu Omar al-Shishani, the Chechen commander who formerly led JMA before joining ISIL. In mid 2015, JMA suffered a leadership split, and Salahuddin and those fighters loyal to him formed a smaller offshoot that reiterated their loyalty to the Caucasus Emirate.

• The Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility for the 2009 Nevsky Express bombing in an online statement describing it as an "act of sabotage", and part of a series of operations targeting strategic sites in Russia.
• The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings which left 40 people dead, and over 100 injured were ordered by Doku Umarov.
• In December 2010, Austrian police arrested a Chechen refugee on suspicion of planning an attack on NATO targets. "Belgian authorities suspect a group of Chechen extremists, who were seeking to set up a religious state in northern Chechnya, planned to attack NATO facilities in Belgium," Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia said.
• The Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility for the Domodedovo International Airport bombing, which killed at least 36 people.
• The group was the prime suspect in the 2012 Makhachkala attack that occurred on 3 May 2012 and killed at least 13 people.
• After it was revealed that the perpetrators in the Boston Marathon bombing were ethnic Chechens, Vilayat Dagestan denied any link to the bombing or the Tsarnaev brothers and stated that it was at war with Russia, not the United States. It also said that it had sworn off violence against civilians since 2012. The statement said, "The Command of the Vilayat Dagestan indicates in this regard that the Caucasian Mujahideen are not fighting against the United States of America. We are at war with Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims. Also, remember that even in respect to the enemy state of Russia, which is fighting the Caucasus Emirate, there is an order by the Emir Dokku Umarov, which prohibits strikes on civilian targets. In July 2013, Doku Umarov released a video message rescinding his prior directions not to attack civilians, declaring that the Russians had construed the declaration as a sign of weakness and had stepped up attacks in the North Caucasus.
• The October 2013 Volgograd bus bombing was blamed on the group.
• The Emirate's Vilayat Dagestan claimed responsibility for the December 2013 Volgograd bombings. The suicide bombings killed 34 people.
• The Caucasus Emirate took credit for a 5 October 2014 suicide bombing near the Grozny city hall. Five Russian police officers and the suicide bomber were killed, 12 other people were wounded.
• Clashes on 4 December 2014 between police and members of the Caucasus Emirate in Grozny left dozens dead. Атака на Грозный , Radio Liberty, December 6, 2014.

• Caucasian Imamate
• Islamic State – Caucasus Province
• North Caucasian Emirate

• Hahn, Gordon H. Getting the Caucasus Emirate Right , Centre for Strategic and International Studies, 1 September 2011
• "The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (II), Islam, the Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency", International Crisis Group, October 2012.
• Rhodes, Darion. Salafist-Takfiri Jihadism: the Ideology of the Caucasus Emirate , International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, March 2014
• Schaefer, Robert W. (2011), The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad, Praeger Security International,