The North Caucasus: Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia

[davidbfpo]

At a recent conference @ Oxford University, hosted by Pembroke College, entitled 'The Lure of Jihad: Propaganda & the Construction of Jihadist Identities' amidst the presentations was one talk that fits here: 'Emirate or Caliphate? Competing Calls to Jihad in the North Caucasus Insurgency' by Mark Youngman, of Birmingham University.

In the potted history given he pointed out that:

1. The 2007 proclamation of a Caucasus Emirate was a victory of the jihadists over the nationalists;
2. The split in Syria of the JMA, a Chechen group, in late 2013, was quickly replicated in the North Caucasus. This was followed by the Emirate being significantly weakened and then in July 2015 an ISIS Wilayah was proclaimed;
3. This declaration was very dubious, with virtually no media explanation and no explanation how this would affect the domestic situation.

In a discussion it was suggested that the "split" was inspired by the FSB. This was supported by the first IS statement appearing on a website the FSB ran! It suits the FSB's purpose that all their opponents are IS.