Dagestan War
| date | August 2, 1999 to September 14, 1999 |
|---|---|
| place | Dagestan |
| output | Military victory of the Russian armed forces |
| consequences | Beginning of the Second Chechen War |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Islamic Republic of Dagestan |
|
| Commander | |
|
Shamil Salmanowitsch Basajew
|
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The Dagestan War began on August 7, 1999 , when a group of armed Chechens and Arabs led by Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan . The war lasted almost six weeks, until mid-September. Together with bombings in Moscow and other cities , it provided the Russian leadership with the cause of the Second Chechen War , which, however, had already been planned.
Course of war
In August and September 1999, Shamil Basayev and the Arab-born Ibn al-Khattab led two incursions by armed Chechen and Dagestani fighters. The information on the number of fighters varies, ranging from 400 to 2000. Most sources speak of 1500 to 2000 fighters. In the mountainous Russian Republic of Dagestan, Islamist fundamentalists had previously proclaimed an Islamic Republic of Dagestan underground and selected Shamil Basayev as its leader.
By August 10, the fighters of Basayev conquered the villages of Ansalta, Rachata and Schadroda and reached the administrative seat of the Rajon district of Botlich . However, Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab were - contrary to their expectations - not perceived by the Dagestani population as “liberators”. Rather, the Dagestani civilians viewed the attackers as conquerors and unwelcome religious fanatics and resisted. The attack was stopped, the Russian military used heavy weapons, the latest Russian main battle tank T-90 was used for the first time. The supply lines of the fundamentalists were interrupted and made impassable by remote-controlled mines . This gave the Russian armed forces time to prepare for a counterattack led by General Viktor Kazantsev , the commander of the North Caucasian Military District. By mid-September, the fighters had been driven from the occupied villages and worn out on their way back to Chechnya.
Web links
- The Dagestan War on BBC (Russian)
- The Dagestan War and Human Rights - Depiction of the human rights organization Memorial (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Uwe Halbach: North Caucasus - shaped by the resistance In: Information on political education in the Caucasus region January 2004
- ^ A b Robert Bruce Ware: Mythology and Political Failure in Chechnya . In: Richard Sakwa (ed.): Chechnya: From Past to Future . Anthem Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84331-164-5 , pp. 79-115.
- ^ A b Middle East Review of International Affairs, Chechnya, Wahhabism and the invasion of Dagestan ( Memento of May 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Volume 9, No. 4, Article 4 - December 2005