The Insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia was a protracted conflict between Russian security forces and militant groups operating in the regions of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, located in the North Caucasus region of Russia. The conflict was part of the broader insurgency in the North Caucasus, which emerged following the end of the First Chechen War in 1996.
Background
The roots of the insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia can be traced back to the Chechen Wars of the 1990s. The withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya in 1996 created a power vacuum in the region, leading to the rise of various militant groups with separatist and Islamist agendas. These groups, including the Karachay Jamaat, Jamaat of Kabardino-Balkaria and Caucasus Emirate and its affiliates, sought to establish an independent Islamic state in the North Caucasus and wage jihad against the Russian government.
Origin
Kabardino-Balkaria:
The militant group in Kabardino-Balkaria began as a moderate non-violent organization named the Islamic Center in 1993. The group was renamed the Jamaat of Kabardino-Balkaria when it was not allowed to re-register under the original name in 1997. The focus of the group gradually changed because of persecution by Valery Kokov, the long-time ruler of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, who labeled all alternatives to the local branch of the Spiritual Board of Russia's Muslims, operating the only official mosque in the republic, as Wahhabis, and indiscriminately and brutally harassed them.
Yarmuk was founded as a unit of around 30 Balkars and Kabardinians led by Muslim Atayev (Emir Sayfullah), which trained at the Chechen warlord Ruslan Gelayev's camp in Pankisi Gorge, Georgia. In 2002 the group helped Gelayev's forces in a raid of the village of Galashki in the Republic of Ingushetia. Upon their return to Kabardino-Balkaria, Atayev and his men launched a recruitment drive among alienated and radicalized youth. Mounting pressure from a continued crackdown led the group's leader, Mussa Mukozhoyev (Musa Mukozhev), to join the underground. Many local young radicals had joined the Islamic Peacekeeping Army that invaded the republic of Dagestan from Chechnya in 1999 or fought on the Chechen separatist side in the Second Chechen War.
Radical Chechen commander Shamil Basayev maintained close ties with the local Salafis, living in the town of Baksan for more than a month in 2003, before narrowly escaping a police raid. An Ingush would-be suicide bomber, Zarema Muzhakhoyeva, lived in the republic's capital of Nalchik before going on a failed suicide mission to Moscow. A Nalchik resident housed the alleged organizer of the August 2004 bombing in the Moscow metro.
Karachay-Cherkessia:
The Karachay Jamaat was founded in 1995 in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic of Russia. It emerged during a time of growing Islamist radicalism in the North Caucasus, influenced by Salafism, a strict interpretation of Islam. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Muslim communities in the region turned to religious identity for guidance, leading to the rise of groups like the Karachay Jamaat.
Early Leadership and Growth:
The group was initially led by Adam Semyonov, an imam who preached Salafist ideas. However, as the group became more radical, leadership passed to Ramazan Borlakov. In the mid-1990s, Borlakov traveled to several Arab countries, where he found financial backing to open a madrasah (Islamic school) in Uchkeken, Karachay-Cherkessia. His sermons grew more radical, criticizing the Russian government for oppressing Muslims and calling for them to live under Sharia law.
Links to Jihadist Networks:
In the late 1990s, Borlakov established contacts with Khattab, an Arab militant leader fighting in Chechnya, and Bagautdin Dagestani, a leader of Dagestan's Wahhabi militants. He sent his followers to Khattab's training camps, forming the Karachay Battalion, a group that took part in the Second Chechen War.
Key Figures:
• Adam Semyonov: The founder of Karachay Jamaat.
• Ramazan Borlakov: The main figure behind the radicalization of the Karachay Jamaat.
• Achemez Gochiyaev: One of Borlakov's followers, suspected of organizing the 1999 Russian apartment bombings.
• Khyzyr Salpagarov: Took over as leader in 1998 and expanded the group's militant activities.
other key figures:
- Idris Glow
- Nikolay Kipkeev
- Aslan Temirbulatov
- Ruslan Khubiev
- Hasanbi Fakov
By the late 1990s, the Karachay Jamaat had become a militant organization focused on resisting Russian rule and establishing Sharia law in the region.
Insurgency
Kabardino-Balkaria:
-Early militant activity: In August 2004 Yarmuk announced the beginning of military operations in the republic. Their online manifesto rejected terrorism, referring to alleged government responsibility for the 1999 Russian apartment bombings ("We are not fighting against women or children, like Russian invaders are doing in Ichkeria. We are not blowing up sleeping people, like FSB of the Russian Federation does"). The manifesto noted the corruption of the "mafia clans" that led the republic ("These mere apologies for rulers, who sold themselves to the invaders, have made drug addiction, prostitution, poverty, crime, depravity, drunkenness and unemployment prosper in our Republic").
Yarmuk launched its first attack in Kabardino-Balkaria that same month, ambushing policemen in Chegem district. A turning point came in December 2004, when Yarmuk members conducted a raid on the office of the federal drug control agency in Nalchik, during which they seized large quantities of weapons and ammunition. The founding leader of Yarmuk, Muslim Atayev, was killed when the police stormed an apartment in Nalchik in January 2005. The organization continued to operate, staging attacks under the leadership of his successor, Rustam Bekanov. He was killed three months later and was replaced by Anzor Astemirov, a former deputy director of the Islamic Center. The group's base of operations was Nalchik and the Balkarian enclave around Mount Elbrus.
-Nalchik raid and aftermath: Yarmuk was the main force involved in the botched raid by around 100–200 mostly untrained militants on the capital Nalchik in 2005, during which more than 140 people, including 89 alleged insurgents, were killed. Scores of suspects were detained after the attack, and at least 52 were put on trial. The Jamaat apparently lost most of its members, including the deputy leader Ilyas Gorchkhanov. Survivors retrenched, and in late 2007 were subsumed into the United Vilayet of Kabarada, Balkaria and Karachay that would operate not only in Kabardino-Balkaria but also in the neighboring republic of Karachay–Cherkessia after the destruction of its native Karachay Jamaat. The number of attacks attributed to Vilayet KBK at that time had been relatively low, being mostly targeted assassinations such as that of Anatoly Kyarov. One exception was the shooting of a group of nine Russian hunters in November 2007. The militants systematically kept recruiting new fighters and gathering weapons.
-Surge of violence: Following the killing of the group's leader Anzor Astemirov in March 2010, the leadership was assumed by more aggressive young commanders like the Baksan area-based Asker Dzhappuyev and the south-west sector commander Ratmir Shameyev, who regrouped Vilayet KBK and changed its tactics. The group went on to perpetrate two high-profile bombings: a blast at the Nalchik hippodrome that injured two ministers during May Day festivities and a sabotage attack on the Baksan hydroelectric power station that inflicted significant economic damage in July. The group was also involved in a large number of near-daily attacks directed against members of security forces. According to a statement made by the Russian federal Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev in November 2010, "the highest level of the terrorist threat in the North Caucasus is in the republics of Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria", as the KBR saw six times more gun attacks and nearly five times more explosions in 2010 as in the same period of 2009. The Vilayet KBK fighters began to simultaneously act as a Taliban-style morality police, targeting alleged "dens of vice". Between March and May 2011, the Russian Security Services killed nearly the entire leadership of the Vilayet, including overall Emir Asker Dzhappuyev, Emir Zakaria of the southwestern sector and Emir Abdul Jabbar of the Northeastern Sector.
-Low level insurgency: The death of so many commanders led to a decline in the number of rebel attacks in Kabardino-Balkaria, mostly taking the form of attacks on local police officials and police stations. In September 2011 Alim Zankishiev (aka Emir Ubaidallah) became the new leader of the rebels, he was killed by Russian security forces in March 2012.
A security operation in Nalchik in September 2012 again saw the killing of several senior commanders (Emir Hamza of the North-Western sector and acting leader of the group, Emir Abdal-Malik of the North-Eastern sector and Shamil Ulbashev, Emir of the Central Sector) in a single operation. Ruslan Baryrbekov (also using the Nom de guerre Amir Khamza) briefly became leader before being killed in September 2012 when Khasanbi Fakov became emir. Fakov was killed by security forces in August 2013 in Nalchik, as was his successor Tengiz Guketlov in March 2014.
Vilayat KBK suffered a split in August 2015, with Robert Zankishiev joining Caucasus Emirate commanders in other North Caucasus republics in pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while Zalim Shebzukhov led those who retained loyalty to the Caucasus Emirate. Both commanders were killed by Russian security forces in operations in November 2015 and August 2016 respectively.
Karachay-Cherkessia:
The Karachay Jamaat was responsible for significant violence in Karachay-Cherkessia and the wider North Caucasus region, primarily from the mid-1990s through the 2010s. This insurgent group, founded in 1995, became a key player in the spread of Salafism and Islamist extremism. Its activities included assassinations, bombings, and large-scale terrorist attacks.
1. Formation of the Karachay Battalion and its Role in Terrorism
• Under the leadership of Ramazan Borlakov, the Karachay Battalion was formed in the late 1990s. It consisted of militants trained in the camps of the notorious Chechen-Arab warlord Khattab. These militants were not only involved in local skirmishes and attacks but also participated in major terrorist operations across the North Caucasus.
• The Karachay Battalion played a direct role in combat during the Second Chechen War (1999-2009), launching attacks on Russian troops and government installations. Their operations in Chechnya were part of a larger effort to destabilize the region and push for the establishment of an Islamic state under Sharia law.
2. 1999 Russian Apartment Bombings
• One of the most devastating attacks linked to the Karachay Jamaat's network, particularly through Achemez Gochiyaev, was the 1999 Russian apartment bombings. These bombings targeted residential buildings in Moscow, Buynaksk, and Volgodonsk, killing over 300 civilians. The attacks were a pivotal moment, as they contributed to the start of the Second Chechen War and greatly intensified the Russian government's response to the North Caucasus insurgencies.
• Although the extent of Gochiyaev's involvement is debated, he remains one of the key figures suspected of orchestrating these bombings. The violence shocked the Russian public and demonstrated the far-reaching capabilities of North Caucasus insurgents to carry out mass-casualty attacks far beyond their home regions.
3. Assassinations and Targeted Killings
• Throughout the 2000s, the Karachay Jamaat frequently used targeted assassinations as a means of destabilizing the local administration and eliminating figures who cooperated with Russian authorities. One of the most notable assassinations was the 2007 killing of Mukharbi Cherkesov, the head of the anti-organized crime department in Karachay-Cherkessia. Cherkesov was a high-profile figure known for his efforts to combat criminal and insurgent networks in the republic. His assassination demonstrated the insurgents’ ability to target well-guarded officials with impunity.