الهم أنصر إخواننا في الشيشان

[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط]Threeflags (from top): Chechen flag; flag of the Islamic Emirate of theCaucasus with the text "God is Greater [than all]"; flag of the ChechenRepublic of Ichkeria


صور من المقاومة و الجهاد في شيشان و القوقاز

Sincebeing colonized in the eighteenth century by the Russians, Chechenshave suffered under a systematic campaign of discrimination and wereforced to deny their cultural identity. Resistance to Russianimperialism began early by the mid-18th century and continuedthroughout the 19th under heroic Chechen leaders such as Imam Shamil.Under the rule of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union Chechens whoresisted were arrested, tortured, and either deported or murdered.During the rule of Joseph Stalin, the Chechens were forbidden fromspeaking their own language and a campaign of Russification began.


[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط]
In1994 Russia invaded Chechnya in order to crush a growing independencemovement. During the two-year-long conflict, Russia destroyed vastswaths of the country, leveled the capital city of Grozny, and killedtens of thousands of Chechen civilians. Hundreds of thousands of otherswere forced to flee Russian forces. After suffering an embarassingstalemate despite their technological and military superiority theRussians were forced to withdraw.

Claiming that they were actingagainst Chechen terrorists, Russia invaded Chechnya again in 1999 onthe orders of President Vladimir Putin. Russian forces remain there tothis day and have managed to set up a puppet regime. Russian forces inChechnya have committed horrible atrocities including murders ofcivilians, summary executions without any legal recourse for suspecteddissidents, rapes, and torture. Russian forces have also kidnappedChechens for interrogation, which often includes torture, and haverobbed civilians of their property.


This battle was the Russian army'sinvasion and subsequent conquest of the Chechen capital, Grozny, duringthe early months of the First Chechen War. The attack lasted fromDecember 1994 to March 1995, resulted in the military occupation of thecity by the Russian Army and rallied most of the Chechen nation aroundthe separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev.


CertainChechen groups, particularly those influenced and supported by foreignelements who have attempted to erase Chechnya's history of Sufi Islamicmysticism, have committed atrocities as well, such as the hostagetakings at Beslan, the Moscow Theater, and other similar attacks oncivilians carried out by loyalists of individuals such as ShamilBasayev. There is no justification for such actions. Foreign anddomestic Salafi jihadis haveattempted to erase the historical and cultural connections of manyChechens to Sufi Islamic mysticism despite erroneous claims that it is"un-Islamic." Contrary to their views, the first great Chechenresistance leader, in the 19th century, was the brave Naqshbandi Sufileader Imam Shamil.


Following the establishment of the Russian-backed and propped-up puppet regime in Chechnya following the de factoRussian victory, however incomplete, in the Second Russo-Chechen War(the war that began in 1999), an opposition government and "state", theChechen Republic of Ichkeria, was declared. Chechen resistance groupsworked closely with other nationalist-separatist groups in theRussian-dominated Caucasus, particularly in Dagestan and Ingushetiya,which fell under the jack boot of the increasingly autocratic VladimirPutin.

[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط]
In late 2007, the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus was declared, with Doku Umarov (also called 'Dokka") asits amir(leader). The Russians call him, as they do all those who resist theirrule, "terrorists." Umarov has had relations in the past with Chechenresistance leaders, namely the late Shamil Basayev, who have beenactively involved in terrorism (the intentional targeting of civiliansor wanton disregard for their safety) as well as operations against theRussian military and its Chechen proxies. Umarov, however, hascondemned terrorist attacks explicitly, including the Beslan schoolhostage taking in 2004.

He was [ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط]in 2005 by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Andrei Babitskii, "Doesthat mean that such acts [such as Beslan] have been acknowledged, havebeen granted moral legitimacy by the Chechen resistance?"


Umraov responded, "No,in the eyes of the resistance such operations have no legitimacy. Weourselves were horrified by what they did in Beslan." He is also apractitioner of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, belonging,reportedly, to the Qadiriyya Order. Basayev, originally a Chechennationalist, later adopted Salafism, a puritanical form of Sunni Islam,and particularly the jihadi Salafi trend. Chechen nationalist resistance was steadily overtaken in many areas by Salafi jihadiactors primarily from abroad, specifically a cadre of Arab fightersincluding the famous Circassian-Saudi leader Khattab and his lieutantsand successors. Together with Basayev, they marginalized Chechennationalist leaders, such as former Chechen president Aslan Maskhdov(assassinated by Russia in early March 2005).

The IEC, however, has claimed other attacks on civilians or targets where many civilians were present.

Following the disappointing results of their involvement in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, transnational jihadis connected or ideologically similar to Salafi jihadigroups such as al-Qa'ida "Central" (AQC) increasingly flocked to other"fields," including Chechnya. Chechnya became one of the fields ofinterest to AQC and its affiliates and allies, and has been mentionedin the past in messages from AQC chief ideologue Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiriand Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of al-Qa'ida in the Land ofthe Two Rivers (Iraq).


The resistance-jihad to Russian rule in Chechnya and the Caucasus has attracted mujahideen [warriorsof faith] of different varieties from around the Muslim world, thoughthe majority have come from Turkey and the Arab world. Some of them areSalafi jihadis who see theconflict(s) as part(s) of a global conflict, while others seek to helptheir co-religionists fight back against Russian rule. In thephotographs below, notice the diversity of the fighters and theirappearances.


Even the U.S.Department of State recognizes, not all Chechen and Caucasianseparatist groups are involved in terrorism and some are legitimatelyfighting for their rights against an increasingly (re)imperialistRussia and its Chechen and regional puppets.

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