Russias burgeoning ISIL problem Olga Khrustaleva Last updated: 6 hours ago As many as 2,500 people from Russias restive North Caucasus region have become fighters in Syria and Iraq. Moscow, Russia - With plunging oil prices, economic sanctions, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and a weakening ruble, the Russian government already had a lot to worry about. Now ISIL has joined this list of concerns. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has released videos with threats to liberate Chechnya and the broader North Caucasus region, and Russia is waging an online war against the group. We will … liberate Chechnya and the Caucasus, Allah willing. The Islamic State is here to stay, said an ISIL fighter in the first such video, released on August 31. Tanya Lokshina, Human Rights Watchs Russia programme director, said there is definitely [ISIL] recruitment happening in Russia. And [ISIL] is becoming, I would say, increasingly popular in the northern Caucasus, in a situation where people are disillusioned with the secular government, she told Al Jazeera. After two wars between the Russian government and Chechen rebels - 1994-96 and 1999-2009 - the insurgency in the northern Caucasus continues but at a much lower level because of the federal governments large financial investment in the region, and its efforts to secure loyal people in positions of power, such as Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Lokshina estimated about 700 people from the northern Caucasus are currently fighting with ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Other estimates are higher. According to a report by the Soufan Group, a think-tank focusing on security issues, there are up to 2,500 Chechens and other north Caucasians fighting with ISIL and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. Joining the caliphate On December 1, Roskomnadzor - the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media - blocked access to video hosting site Vimeo because it hosted several clips from the ISIL-produced film Flames of War. It restored access after Vimeo removed the clips. But some of ISILs promotional and recruiting campaigns can still be easily found on Russias most popular social network, VK. Because anyone can upload videos or other content directly to the website, it can be accessed and shared even after theyve been blocked by YouTube and other outside sources. A page on VK called Jihad Poetry that features Russian-language poems glorifying jihad and Islamist fighters, for example, has more than 1,000 followers. One brother tried to move to the caliphate [ISIL-controlled territory], but was stopped on the way and brought to the police where he was beaten, reads one post on the Jihad Poetry page from November 29. And he needs money for treatment. The phone number listed in the post had a Chechen area code, but it is hard to say whether it was a scam - the number was temporarily unavailable when dialled on December 3. Some Chechens are already well-known as senior ISIL commanders. The most prominent by far is Abu Omar al-Shishani, who has reportedly led the groups fight in Kobane, the predominantly Kurdish town on the Syria-Turkey border that has for weeks been at the centre of media attention and US-led coalition air strikes against the group. Al-Shishanis Chechen roots [his mother is ethnic Chechen] and senior position in the group make it more prestigious for recruits from the North Caucasus to join the ranks of the caliphate, the Soufan Group report said. With these recruits now coming mostly from Russian territory, the Islamic State represents a potential direct threat to Russia. Earlier in November, Kadyrov posted a photo to Instagram of a dead man resembling al-Shishani. The Chechen president, an avid user of the picture-sharing application, added in the caption the same would happen to anyone who dared to threaten Russia and the Chechen people. However, the photo turned ou
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 15:31:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015