Shariat Jamaat

Shariat , officially the Islamic Jamaat of Dagestan Shariat , is the largest militant Islamist organization in Russian republic of Dagestan , North Caucasus , connected to numerous attacks against the local and federal security forces.¹ The Jamaat, created during the Second Chechen War in favor of Dagestan's independence as an Islamic state , is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of policemen, military personnel and local officials. It claims to be "legitimate authority of Dagestan" with the aim of establishing Sharia law-based "fair society".² It is closely associated with the separatist conflict in nearby Chechnya and Ingushetia and is also known to has members and bases in Azerbaijan .³ Shariat Jamaat was established by Emir Rasul ( Rasul Makasharipov ) following the near-destruction of the much smaller Dagestani militant group Jennet (Arabic: Paradise ). In 1999, Makasharipov fought against the government during the abortive rebel invasion of Dagestan. After moving to fight in Chechnya, he went back to his homeland in 2002 and set up the group Jennet, whose principal objective was to eliminate senior police and FSB security forces officers in Dagestan. Its center of operations was the republic's capital of Makhachkala and the nearby Tarki -Tau Mountain. The insurgents managed to assassinate several important figures such as the FSB territorial head of counterintelligence and counterterrorism Kamil Etinbekov, head of the police department for the struggle against extremism and criminal terrorism Akhberdilav Akilov (28 officers of this department were also killed by the group), and the minister of national policy, information, and external relations Magomed Gusayev. The 2002 Kaspiysk bombing , in which 43 soldiers and civilians were killed at a military parade, was also blamed on Makasharipov although he had rejected any responsibility. Following the loss of several of its key leaders in late 2004, remnants of Jennet were re-organized and transformed into Sharia Jamaat (Arabic: "Islamic Law Community"). The new group, much larger and more decentralized, gradually became more indiscriminate in their attacks, targeting even rank-and-file traffic police officers. In May 2005 it became part of the umbrella organization Caucasian Front established by then president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Sheikh Abdul Halim after the death of his predecessor Aslan Maskhadov . The first leader of the Shariat Jamaat, Rasul Makasharipov, was killed during a shootout with Russian troops on 6 July 2005 and his deputy Rappani Khalilov ("Rabbani") then took over. Rabbani was said to be an extremely popular with the youth and was able to recruit hundreds of fighters into Jamaat's ranks. He was closely allied with the Chechen rebels and the commander of foreign fighters in the Caucasus, Abu Hafs al-Urduni , and was killed on 17 September 2007 in a siege by the Russian special forces. With the statements of the new Chechen separatist leader Dokka Umarov , published by Kavkaz Center on 1 October 2007, Khalilov was replaced by his deputy, Abu Majid (Ilgas Malachiyev). Majid began his career during the Second Chechen War, fighting under Mashkadov and Ibn al-Khattab , before joining the Jamaat in 2005; this helped legitimize himself as a rebel leader in Dagestan with the leaderships of both Chechen rebels and foreign fighters. Abdul Majid took the Jamaat oath to not attack civilians and was credited with bringing order to the group after the death of Khalilov. On 8 September 2008, he was killed in a battle in southern Dagestan on the border with Azerbaijan in a joint operation of Russian and Azeri special forces. Following the death of Majid, Umarov (now as the leader of the self-styled Caucasus Emirate ) appointed Dagestani commander Emir Muaz (Omar Sheikhulayev) to lead the Jamaat. Emir Muaz was killed on 5 February 2009 in a gunfight with Russian special forces in a suburb of Makachkala. He was replaced in April 2009 by Emir Bara (Umalat Magomedov), who was in turn killed by the police on December 31, 2009, in an apparently accidental shootout at a road checkpoint in Makachkala. The Jamaat has been involved in hundreds of attacks against the local politicians, republican and federal security officers and soldiers, and other officials including several district chiefs other high-ranking officials of Dagestan. The group is believed to be responsible for the 2005 Makhachkala bombing in which many special forces troops were killed, and the assassination of the republic's deputy Interior Minister of Dagestan Gen. Magomed Omarov in 2005, among other high-profile attacks. The recent upsurge of violence in Dagestan in 2008 and 2009 included the killing of first deputy head of the Russian Interior Ministry troops in the North Caucasus Gen. Valery Lipinsky and the sniper assassination of Dagestan's Interior Minister Gen. Adilgerei Magomedtagirov , and, in a rare attack on unarmed civilians, the killing of seven prostitutes at a bathhouse following the destruction of nearby police checkpoint. Their first suicide attack took place on 6 January 2010, killing six policemen. The group is rather loosely organized mostly into many very small (as few as only three to five people) and practically autonomous urban cells, in particular in Makachkala, althrough it also maintains several larger guerrilla units of up to 15 fighters each. The latter are based in the forested and mountainous areas of Dagestan and occasionaly engage in a relatively large, days-long battles against Russian special forces backed by artillery and air support (such as the double four-day battle in March 2009, in which 16 rebels from two separate units and five Russian troops were killed according to the government ). Legitimate authority of Dagestan is Jamaat "Sharia" Jamaat 'Shariah': Our goal is to establish a fair society Shariat organization succeeds to Dzhennet rebel group Islamic Group Says It Set Off Dagestan Blast 2 Police Officers Killed in Dagestan Shootings Clashes Kill Over 20 in Russia Region Suicide bomber kills six in Russia's Dagestan icon Итог спецоперации в Дагестане: 16 убитых боевиков, 5 погибших силовиков⁴