Decline in militant activities indicates change in format of Dagestani armed underground

In Dagestan, the armed underground has changed its way of life and has come to the form of secret units; therefore, it is too early to declare the complete absence of militants in the republic, report analysts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Magomed Baachilov, the chief of the Dagestani administration of the National Guard of Russia, announced the absence of active members of the armed underground in the republic. He also noted a new trend: not wives of militants, but unmarried young girls started to leave Dagestan for the Middle East.

The very structure of the armed underground in Dagestan has changed, believes Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, Director of the Conflict Analysis and Prevention Centre.

She does not consider attempts to return militants from the Middle East to Dagestan as a serious challenge for the region. The militants who survived the defeat of the "Islamic State" (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), are more likely to try to escape in other countries, Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya has added.

The Magomed Baachilov's statement about the departure of young girls to the Middle East is dubious, notes Joanna Paraschuk, a creator of the project "Chechens in Syria". She believes that at present, a trip from Dagestan to Syria is impossible for an unmarried girl. Many women are held captive in Kurdish camps, Joanna Paraschuk states.

The practice when young women left for Syria has almost stopped, confirms Akhmet Yarlykapov, a researcher of the Caucasus.

The sympathies to members of the armed underground are being fueled by persecution of Muslims and acute social problems, believes Mikhail Roschin, a researcher of the Caucasus.