This dyad belongs to the conflict Russia (Soviet Union): Dagestan
Summary of conflict Russia (Soviet Union): Dagestan
In 1998, the Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district took control of some villages in the Buinaksk region of Dagestan and proclaimed them a “separate Islamic territory”. The movement began to expel local police from the district. In August 1999, the Russian government decided retake the control of the region once for all and launched attacks on the Dagestani rebel group and like-minded rebels in neighbouring Chechnya. The government forces succeeded in defeating the Wahhabi movement of the Buinaksk district within a few weeks.
Dagestan became a hot spot of Islamist violence again in the late 2000s, when the conflict over Chechnya developed into a conflict over the creation of an Islamist state in the North Caucasus (see Russia: Caucasus Emirate for developments the North Caucasus 2007-2015 and Russia: Islamic State thereafter).
Conflict Description
Throughout many centuries, political life in Dagestan has been characterised by a struggle for liberation from Russian rule. Despite this endeavour, Dagestan came under definite Russian control in the 19th century and was established as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within the Soviet Union in 1920. In the Russian Federation that was born in 1991-1992 under President Boris Yeltsin, Dagestan kept the status of autonomous republic. The local authorities in Dagestan were considered as the Russian governments closest ally. At the same time, many different groups with different ambitions populated Dagestan. In central Dagestan, a Sunni Muslim sect referred to as Wahhabis appeared by the end of the 1990s, concurrently with religious radicalisation and the arrival of Arab Mujahedin to the area. Due to their very strict interpretation of Islam, the Wahhabis became alienated from other groups in Dagestan. Close links were developed with the hard-line Islamic rebels in Chechnya who wanted to form a single Islamic state in the Dagestan-Chechnya region. The Chechen rebels were involved in the 1994-1996 war against the Russian government. In early August 1999, they clashed with the Russian army in Dagestan.
The Arab missionaries and their Wahhabi followers were based in the Buinaksk district. The conflict concerned the status of this district in Dagestan. In August 1998, the Wahhabis sect declared the villages in the Buinaksk district to be a separate Islamic territory. The group claimed not to accept one single Russian law and asserted that Dagestan could only stay within Russia if the latter became an Islamic state. The Russian government, together with the leadership of the Dagestan Republic, rejected this claim. The Buinaksk district as well as Dagestan was considered by the Russian government to be an integral part of Russian territory.
After having proclaimed their own independent Islamic territory in the Buinaksk region, the Wahhabis started to expel all local police and took control of the villages. The villagers constructed defensive fortifications, stockpiled weapons and dug underground structures. The Wahhabis managed to maintain a de-facto independence in Buinaksk until one year later, when the conflict escalated dramatically. After a year of increasing unrest in the region, with the Chechen rebels carrying out frequent incursions into Dagestan, the Russian government decided to retake the control of the region once and for all. On 29 August 1999, the Russian forces intervened in the Wahhabis stronghold, as the Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi villages were attacked. The conflict rapidly reached an intense level with immediate casualties as a result. Within a few days, 25 people had died in battle-related fights.
The Russian army was by far superior to the Wahhabi fighters, both in number and in terms of military resources. Even though the Wahhabis were determined to fight back, the Russians, with help from local Dagestan defense units, could defeat the Wahhabis after a few weeks of fighting. The casualty figure amounted to a few hundred deaths. The Islamist strongholds Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi were conquered and occupied by the Russian forces.
Due to the swift and definite victory for the Russian government, the conflict was never regulated through any negotiations or peace agreements. Once the Wahhabi fighters had been shattered, the Wahhabi movement was banned by the Dagestani parliament. In the 2000s the Islamists again became very influential and Dagestan became a hot spot of the Islamist violence in the North Caucasus (see Russia: Caucasus Emirate for more information about 2007-2015 and Russia: Islamic State thereafter).
