It has been brought to my attention that some individuals are apparently incapable of reading the About page or any of my posts, and based on the title of this blog are laboring under the delusion that it a pro-jihad site run by Chechens.
I had thought this was patently obvious…
You know those days when you wake up and plan to write about Tajiks in IS, but then a totally unknown group of Tatars from Kazan appear and make a video address? Yeah, I know. Continue reading Meet The Tatar & Ural Katiba Al-Mahdi, in Syria via Kazan
This is a current Imarat Kavkaz in Syria daily plan for military bases (though not during Ramadan). Continue reading Imarat Kavkaz in Syria Military Base Day Planner
Ever since the first reports of Russian-speaking militants fighting in Syria emerged in the media, questions have been raised about the specter of “blowback” — i.e. what would happen if and when some of these militants returned home to wage “jihad” in the Russian Federation. Here is evidence of one militant who did return from Syria to Dagestan, where he was killed in a counter-terrorism operation and was suspected of preparing to commit terror attacks in that North Caucasus republic. Continue reading Umar Shishani’s Man Who Fought At Menagh, Then Was Killed In Dagestan
KavkazPress has published more details on Muslim Shishani’s earlier years, including some photos of him sans beard, some of which I cannot resist translating here. Some of the information KavkazPress has included is stuff I have already published in earlier posts, and I am not going to reproduce that here. Continue reading More About Muslim Shishani’s Early Years As a Militant In Ingushetia (With Pics!)
Local media in Russia are reporting that the passport of a Russian militant, Andrey Karasik, has been found in Syria in areas liberated from IS by Kurdish militias. The suggestion is that Karasik and his wife and two children, also Russian converts, have been killed — though this is not proven. Continue reading How A Jewish Man & Professor’s Son From Volgograd, Nicknamed “Goldfish,” Joined IS
I have written several pieces about how North Caucasian militants in Syria have used poetry to express emotions and share ideas.
However, North Caucasian jihadi poetry did not emerge in Syria, nor are all of the poems shared by North Caucasian militants in Syria (and their supporters in the Russian Federation) new and/or written by those fighting in Syria. Continue reading Imagining Imarat Kavkaz: The Poetry Of Jihad In The North Caucasus
A few days ago, the news broke on IS social media that Abu Aisha Kazakhi, an IS militant from Kazakhstan, had been killed. Here are some of the facts I have gleaned about Abu Aisha in my several months of tracking him. Continue reading Who Was Abu Aisha Kazakhi, The Kazakh IS Militant Killed In Palmyra?
Said Buryatsky, a.k.a. Said Abu Saad, continues to be an important and influential figure in North Caucasian jihad circles, even after his death in 2010. Buryatsky is frequently mentioned by various North Caucasian groups in Syria — including North Caucasian factions in the Islamic State (IS) group, who employ his words and image often including as part of their attempts to legitimize their movement as a natural successor to the Caucasus Emirate. Continue reading An Note On How IS Chechens Use Said Buryatsky In Mythmaking
A major theme in pro-Caucasus Emirate (IK) online groups — which still exist in the plural despite the erosion of IK in the North Caucasus and more recent upheavals in Syria — is a condemnation of the Islamic State (IS) group, a trend that has grown in momentum over the past year. I take a quick look at how this evolved, and share a Caucasus Emirate poem slamming IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Continue reading ‘Igishata’ vs. ‘Imaratovsty’: The Caucasus Emirate, Poetry & Fitna
The Caucasus Emirate (Imarat Kavkaz, IK) website Kavkaz Center has published a video showing a small group of 16 militants holding the IK v Shame (IK in Syria) banner and claiming to be preparing to fight alongside Jund al-Aqsa and Jabhat al-Nusra in the southern countryside of Aleppo. Continue reading Arabic-speaking Katiba Guraba fighting under auspices of IK v Shame in south Aleppo
