General information
First Active Year: 1999
Current Name: Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Current Name full English: Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Current Name full native language: n/a
Original Name: Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Original Name full English: Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Original Name full native language: n/a
Actor Chronology
This section contains information about (if applicable) group splinters, name changes, and alliances according to the UCDP definitions of these concepts.
UCDP has not recorded any Chronology Activities involving this group.
Conflict issues
Government of Russia (Soviet Union) - Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Conflict Goal Issues: The Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district, also known as the Islamic Djamaat of Dagestan, was an Islamist rebel group fighting against the Russian government to establish an Islamic state in Dagestan. The movement was characterized by ultra-conservative Islamist thought which had been emerging in Dagestan for a decade and was established in 1998. During this year, the group stated four conflict goal issues, calling for the resignation of the Russian-appointed Dagestani government and the establishment of an independent Dagestani Islamic state which would be governed by Sharia law.
During the second, and final coded, year of the Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district’s existence, the group reemphasized its calls for changing the judicial system, establishing an Islamic state, and gaining independence from the Russian state. These three issues are also considered the main conflict issues of the group as their continuous mentioning and heavy emphasis implied their centrality to the group.
Conflict Dynamics Issues: Throughout the conflict, the project coded one conflict dynamics issue expressed by the Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district when the group, in 1998, called for the withdrawal of “all federal [Russian] troops from Dagestani soil”. As only one issue was stated in one instance, no main conflict dynamics issue was attributed to the group.
Conflict Resolution Issues: The project coded no statements from the Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district pertaining to conflict resolution issues.
Type of conflict issues: Conflict Goal Issues: Change judicial system, CPS: Islamic state, Independence, Oust local executive
Conflict Dynamics Issues: DFI: Withdrawal of military intervention/foreign forces
Conflict Resolution Issues:
Annual information
This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.
1999
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Russia (Soviet Union) - Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Group Archive
This section contains annual information no longer systematically collected by the UCDP.
1999 Group Archive
Government of Russia (Soviet Union) - Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district
Comment on Name: The Wahhabis were commonly referred to as a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim sect. They consisted of Arab missionaries and their followers. From having numbered only a few members, the Wahhabi movement grew by the end of the nineties with the religious radicalisation and the arrival of Arab Mujahideen.
The foreign missionaries preached a more radical form of Islam, often hostile to the local Muslim traditions. Consequently, the Islamic radicals did not enjoy support among the local population. To some extent, the ethnic Chechens in Dagestan could be seen as an exception.
Troop Size: 300 - 500
Comment on Troop Size: Some 10 000 Wahhabis lived in the villages in the Buinaksk region. According to one estimation, 300-500 of the residents fought against the Russian forces. However, it was unclear whether some of the fighters were members of the Chechen-led incursion force who had joined the fighting.
Secondary Support: "The Chechen rebels under Shamil Basayev and Ibn-ul-Khattab soke to form a single Islamic state in the Dagestan-Checnya region. The Wahhabis efforts were in line with this ambition. During the warring parties fighting, the Basayev/Khattab forces moved in to the north of the villages. Even if the Chechen Islamists never directly linked up with the Wahhabis, there were very close connections between the two groups. Many leading Wahhabi militants joined the Chechen incursion in early August, led by Basayev and Khattab. Furthermore, Khattab, a Saudiarabian ""missionary"", had strong personal links with the Wahhabis. He also gave a statement saying that the major attacks in Russians cities in September were a response to what the Russians had done in the two Wahhabi villages."
