Residents of Northern Caucasus state lack of interest to reports of capturing al-Shishani

The field commander of the IS, a native of Georgia, Abu Omar al-Shishani (Tarkhan Batirashvili) is little-known to the public of Northern Caucasus; and reports of his capture have caused no excitement, residents of Chechnya, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On December 27, information appeared that Abu Omar al-Shishani, a field commander of the "Islamic State" (IS was recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia and some countries of the world, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), was captured by US Special Forces in Iraq during an operation conducted on December 25. Today, this information was refuted by residents of the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia, and by the Pentagon spokesman.

The news about Batirashvili's capturing has caused no excitement among young people in Chechnya, said Islam, a student of the Chechen State University. According to his story, many students know nothing about Omar al-Shishani. At the university, the IS is discussed only in the context of criticism and condemnation, said Islam.

In general, the interest in the news items about the "Islamic State" has decreased in the republic, said an employee of one of state-run institutions of Grozny.

Residents of Dagestan have expressed no interest in the reports about the capture of al-Shishani, said Mairbek Agaev, the editor-in-chief of the weekly "Chernovik". However, such news might be interesting for the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, he added.

Most interviewed Dagestani students and university graduates said that they did not know what al-Shishani was known for. Only two of them said that they read about him on the Internet.

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