09:38, 25 June 2015

Dagestani militant Asilderov is IS leader in Northern Caucasus

Rustam Asilderov. Photo: https://05.mvd.ru/news/item/455394/

The leader of the North-Caucasian branch of the "Islamic State" (IS), which has been recognized as a terrorist organization, is the Dagestani commander Abu Mukhammad (Rustam Asilderov). His name was announced by the international non-governmental organization (NGO) "Institute for the Study of War", which is writing about the participation of militants from the Caucasus in the Syrian conflict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 21 a message was posted on the YouTube that militants of four vilayets of the so-called "Imarat Kavkaz", which is regarded in Russia as a terrorist organization, swore their allegiance to Abu-Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of the above IS (earlier named as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL). The IS has taken the oath of North-Caucasian militants and announced the establishment of its branch in the region.

Let us note here that Rustam Asilderov was one of the first to swear to the IS leader; the information about this appeared back on December 19, 2014. Then, the leader of "Imarat Kavkaz" Aliaskhab Kebekov blamed the Dagestani militant leader for initiating a split and dismissed him, appointing Said of Arakan to be the Amir of Dagestan.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.