" Let those fight in the way of ALLAH who sell the life of this world for the other. Whose fighteth in the way of ALLAH, be he stain of he be victorious,on him. We shall bestore a vast reward." 
					(Surah Nisa)
					(Ayah 74)


LOCATION


Chechnya, republic in the eastern part of North Caucasia, southwestern Russia, bordering Stavropol' Territory to the northwest, the republic of Dagestan to the northeast and east, Georgia to the south, and the republic of Ingushetia to the west. Chechens call their republic Ichkeria. It was part of the joint Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic of Soviet Russia from 1936 until 1991, when it declared itself independent, and Ingushetia separated from the republic.

HISTORY



Almost all Chechens are Muslims. Like most Caucasian mountain peoples, Chechens belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. They were converted from their original folk religion in the 16th and 17th centuries by missionaries from Dagestan who were Sufis (Muslim mystics) belonging to the Naqshbandi brotherhood. This Muslim order was founded by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband in Bukhara in central Asia in the 14th century. It spread steadily westward, attracting merchants, military men, scholars, and other people by emphasizing social responsibility, equality, and community solidarity and discouraging tribal feuding, ethnic prejudice, and class differentiation.

PROBLEM


Just three years later, however, the jubilation of 1991 was a bittersweet memory. Russian troops invaded Chechenia in December 1994, beginning a brutal war that is actually just the most recent in a series of struggles by the Chechens to defend their freedom, dating back hundreds of years.


In 1991 Chechen general Dzhokhar Dudayev expelled the Communist government in Groznyy. Presidential elections were held in October, and Dudayev won a resounding victory. In November 1991, shortly before the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Chechnya declared itself an independent state; however, the Russian government refused to recognize it as such. In December 1994 the Russian Federation government under President Boris Yeltsin launched a full-scale invasion of Chechnya to halt the republic's movement toward independence.


Groznyy was almost completely destroyed before it was taken by the Russians in February 1995. Thousands of people were killed in the fighting. The Russians ousted the rebel leaders, installed a puppet government in Groznyy, and stationed Russian troops in the area. Dudayev was forced into hiding, but his rebel forces refused to surrender, and fighting continued between the two sides; Dudayev was killed in a rocket attack in April 1996. Since the December 1994 invasion, the Russian military has killed 40,000 Chechens, and their "scorched earth" policy has laid the countryside to waste. Grozny, the Chechen capital, and Gudermes, the second-largest city, have been razed. At least 300,000 Chechens have been rendered homeless.

According to journalist Eric Margolis, who has spent the past three years covering the war for independence in Chechnya, "two thousand Chechen 'disappeared' after being arrested by KGB and Interior Ministry units. Human rights organizations accuse Russian forces of mass executions, bloodthirsty reprisals, and widespread torture." The war has been heavily criticized in Russia as well as the international community. Troop moral is low, and some of Yeltsin's top generals have refused to obey orders against the Chechens and have publicly criticized the war effort.

Significantly, in preparation for the anticipated escalation, the on-site Islamist commanders conducted a thorough study of the Muslim forces operating in Chechnya. "In Chechnya today, there are three Mujahedin groups which are all united under one banner: 'La Illaha Illa Allah, Muhammad Rasoolu Allah.' The first group is the Mujahedin themselves led by their Ameer and they have strong knowledge of Islam, the second group is the Government troops, and they also practice Islam as much as they know, and are sure that victory will only come from Allah, but this group also have some minor Bid'a and that is why good Muslim Da'wa is needed. The third group is led by a brother called 'Shamil' [Basayev who is] named after the great Imam and Mujahid Shamil who defeated the Russians for over 25 years. This group is also abiding by Islam, and all three groups are working together and have the responsibilities divided among them. In short the banner of Islam and Jihad is now very clear, Alhamdulillah in Chechnya." The commanders recommended the marked escalation of the fighting in Chechnya -- particularly the launching of an offensive against the Russians as well as spectacular terrorist strikes into the heart of Russia.