Abu al-Walid

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Abu al-Walid (ابو الواليد) (born Saudi Arabia, date unknown, died April 16, 2004), also known as Amir al-Walid, was an Arab Mujahid and commander in both Chechen Wars. After Ibn al-Khattab’s death, he succeeded him as commander of the Arab Mujahideen fighting in Chechnya. He served in this role until he was killed by a Russian air strike in 2004.

As was the case with his predecessor, Khattab, his true identity and history were only revealed by his family after his death. In an interview with the Saudi newspaper al-Watan his family stated his full given name to be Abd Al-Aziz Bin Ali Bin Said Al Said Al-Ghamdi.^[1]

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Chechnya
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

His father was a well-known imam and he was raised in the village of al-Hall in the South-West of Saudi Arabia. When he was only seventeen years old, he left for Afghanistan to join the Jihad against the Russian invaders. During his time in Afghanistan he spent two years training at the Maktab al-Khidamat. On two occasions he briefly returned to Saudi Arabia, once to have a hand-injury treated.

After the end of the Afghan War al-Walid would go on to fight in other conflicts in Europe and Asia. In the 1990’s, Jihad would lead him to the Balkans, where he fought alongside the Bosnian Muslims in the Bosnian War, Tajikistan, where he assisted Muslim Rebels in the Tajik Civil war, and eventually to Chechnya, where he joined a band of Mujahideen known as the Islamic Regiment, which was being led by Khattab.^[2]

[edit] Chechnya

In the First Chechen War al-Walid would serve as Khattab’s deputy. In this role he actively participated in the numerous raids and ambushes that were executed by their Islamic Regiment. After the war he would remain in Chechnya along with most of the regiment, using the mountainous South of the country to set up a network of camps, in which they trained Islamist rebels from throughout the region, and even further abroad. He also married a Chechen woman with whom he would later have two children. In 1999 he participated in the IIPB’s invasion of Dagestan, one of the events which triggered the outbreak of the Second Chechen War. It was after this incursion that his fame began to rise in Islamist circles abroad.^[3]

In the Second Chechen War, al-Walid’s role would be similar to the one he played in the First Chechen war, he continued to participate in raids and ambushes as Khattab’s deputy. In 2000 al-Walid would achieve his most important military victory, when he successfully attacked the VDV 51st Paratroop Regiment from Pskov.^[4] After Khattab’s death in 2002, al-Walid assumed command of the Islamic Regiment. On April 16, 2004, Abu al-Walid was killed by a Russian air strike, his death was later confirmed by KavkazCenter.^[5] He was reportedly succeeded by a Jordanian Mujahid named Abu Hafs al-Urduni, who was himself killed in November 2006.^[6]