SUMMARY
The one-sided violence committed by the Forces of the Caucasus Emirate takes place in the context of armed conflict in the North Caucasus (see Russia (Soviet Union): Caucasus Emirate. Since 2007, the self-proclaimed Caucasus Emirate forms the umbrella of Islamic armed groups in this region.
In April 2009, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate, Doku Umarov, called for more attacks on Russian soil outside the Caucasus. He also justified attacks against Russian civilians and announced the revival of Riyad us-Saliheen Brigade or the "Garden of Martyrs" Brigade as part of the Caucasus Emirate. The Riyad us-Saliheen Brigade had existed during the conflict over Chechnya and had targeted civilians in this context. Prominent attacks of this sub-group were hostage-taking at a Moscow theater in 2002.
A year later, Doku Umarov warned Russians that he was plotting more attacks in revenge for what he called the repressions against Chechens. The rebel leader also emphasized in the context of one attack that it was not carried out against the poorest Russians as it was launched in Moscow.
After the announcement of Umarov in 2009, the use of suicide bombings in the conflict against government officials (counted as state-based violence by UCDP) and targeted violence against Russian civilians increased. Also, moderate Muslim leaders preaching peaceful traditional Islam in the North Caucasus are among the victims of attacks attributed to the Forces of the Caucasus Emirate. It should be noted that, in general, the Forces of the Caucasus Emirate appears to avoid the killing of civilians in the North Caucasus as much as possible and analysts say that civilians within the region were largely deemed as off-limits. Prominent attacks outside the North Caucasus were several suicide bombings on strategic targets in Moscow.
The Forces of the Caucasus Emirate first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2010, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 29 March, when two suicide bombings targeting Moscow’s subway stations killed 39 persons.
