Dagestan War

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Dagestan War

Russian special forces in Dagestan

Date	August 7, 1999 - August 23, 1999
Location	Dagestan
Result	Russian victory, Second Chechen War.

Combatants

Russian Federation

Chechen rebels

Shura of Dagestan

Commanders

Viktor Kazantsev

Shamil Basayev
Ibn al-Khattab

Strength

17,000

300 to 1,400

Casualties

At least 279 dead and 987 wounded

Unknown

Conflicts in the former Soviet Union
Nagorno-Karabakh – South Ossetia – Abkhazia – Georgia – North Ossetia – Transnistria – Tajikistan – 1st Chechnya – Dagestan – 2nd Chechnya

The Dagestan War (in Russia called by the name Chechen invasion of Dagestan) began when Chechnya-based so-called Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB) militia led by warlords Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab invaded the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan on August 7, 1999 in support of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The war ended with the retreat of the IIPB and was one of the triggers for the Second Chechen War.

1 Timeline
- 1.1 Aftermath
2 Opposing forces
- 2.1 Federal forces
- 2.2 Rebel forces
3 Dagestan after 1999
4 Notes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Timeline

In August and September of 1999, Shamil Basayev and Arab-born Khattab led two incursions by estimated up to 1,400 international (albeit mostly Chechen and Dagestani) Islamist militants from Chechnya into the mountainous regions of Russia's Republic of Dagestan, where on August 10 separatist rebels proclaimed independent Islamic Republic of Dagestan with Basayev as their leader.[1] During the initial attack, two Mi-8 transport helicopters were hit at Botlikh airfield by anti-tank guided missiles.

By August 10 the rebels had seized the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata and Shadroda and reached the village of Tando, close to the district town of Botlikh. [2] However, they never seized the town. As resistance stiffened, not least from a large if undisciplined volunteer militia, Russian artillery and airpower came into its own. While the First Chechen War had shown the limitations of its use, here it was relied on to ensure that the Russians did not lose the war in those early days. The rebels were stalled by the ferocity of the bombardments: their supply lines were cut and scattered with remotely delivered mines. This gave Moscow time to assemble a their counter-attack under Colonel-General Viktor Kazantsev, commander of the North Caucasus Military District.

In a thinly disguised admission of failure, on August 23 the rebels announced they were withdrawing from Botlikh district 'to redeploy' and begin a 'new phase' in their operations.[3] By mid-September 1999 the militants were routed from the villages they had seized and were pushed back into Chechnya.

[edit] Aftermath

At least several hundred people were killed in the fighting, including unknown number of civilians; the federal side admitted suffering 279 dead and approximately 987 wounded. This conflict saw the first use of aerial-delivered fuel-air explosives (FAE) against populated areas, notably on the village of Tando.[4]

The Russian government followed up with a bombing campaign of southeastern Chechnya, a part of the country they saw as a staging area for the militants. On September 23, Russian fighter jets bombed targets in and around Grozny.

In December 1999, after the Dagestan War and a string of apartment bombings, Russian ground forces invaded Chechnya.

[edit] Opposing forces

[edit] Federal forces

Despite the initial poor showing of the government forces, Moscow and Makhachkala were able to put together a relatively impressive fighting force, including light infantry units (drawn from the Spetsnaz special forces, paratroopers and marines) crucial to mountain and counter-insurgency warfare.

The government forces were made up of three main elements: light and airmobile infantry units able to operate in the mountains and in small ambush and assault forces; larger mechanised units to seal areas off and maintain rear area security; and artillery and air support elements able to interdict supply lines and box the rebels in. Most of the 'teeth' were drawn from regular army units, with the exception of the MVD's Internal Troops' 102nd Brigade and Rus' commando force and the local Dagestani OMON riot police. Makhachala has long expected an incident of this sort, and since its OMON troops proved so ineffectual in 1996 when Chechen rebels seized hostages in the Dagestani village of Kizlyar, it has put some of its scarce resources into turning this force into, in effect, a small local army. The Dagestani OMON force numbers almost 1,000 men and, bar the absence of armour and artillery, they are equipped as motorised infantry; the force even had a number of BTR-60 and BTR-70 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and heavy support weapons.

At the end of 1997 the republic also began raising a volunteer territorial militia. During the emergency its ranks were swelled with reservists and volunteers to around 5,000. Their training and equipment was minimal, making them little more than a home guard force, but their numbers helped secure the government's rear areas and their very presence helped legitimise the government forces, neutralising the charge that this was merely an attempt by Russians to control the Caucasus (Dagestani OMON or volunteers were often shown on local TV reports, presumably to drive home this message).

[edit] Rebel forces

Shamil Basayev in Dagestan

The insurgents of the 'United Headquarters of Dagestan Mujahideen' proved to be a motley collection of Chechen guerrillas, Dagestani rebels, Islamic extremists and mercenaries from across the Arab world and Central Asia. Notional first-among-equals of their leaders was Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel leader, erstwhile prime minister and founder of the Congress of Peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan (CPCD). Basayev's position was in many ways an ambiguous one. He was a staunch Muslim but didn't share the extreme Wahhabism of many of his allies. However, he did strongly believe that Dagestan and Chechnya should be one state. Although a seasoned and wily guerrilla commander, this war saw him as much as anything else being used as a political figurehead. His CPCD was officially charged with forming new 'structures of Islamic self-government' in rebel-held areas. The brevity of the occupation and the opposition of many locals to their 'liberation' meant this was never a serious process.

The core of the insurgent forces, accounting for perhaps half of the rebel fighters, comprised the band of the guerrilla warlord Ibn al-Khattab. Having fought against the Russians during the First Chechen War, he then went on to wage an open campaign against Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, whom he regarded as too close to Moscow. Khattab had concluded a marriage of political convenience with Basayev, but in effect retained operational command and a veto on political direction.

The third element in the loose rebel triumvirate were the Dagestanis. The two key figures were Nadir Khachilayev and Siradjin Ramazanov. An ethnic Laz and former leader of the Union of Muslims in Russia, Khachilayev has a long pedigree of opposition to the Magomedali Magomedov regime. In 1998 he launched an abortive attempt to storm the government buildings in the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala. Khachilayev escaped to Chechnya where he found sanctuary with Islamist guerrilla movements, eventually forging an alliance with Khattab. Despite their Dagestani origins, he and the self-styled prime minister of 'Islamic Dagestan', Ramazanov, proved essentially marginal, reflecting their failure to raise recruits to their side after they had launched their operation. The self-proclaimed Shura (Islamic council) of Dagestan welcomed the 'liberation' and declared an Islamic state, but it proved to have relatively little authority.

Estimates of the insurgent forces' strength have varied from 300 to over 2,000 (a field force of no more than 1,400 seems most credible). While mostly experienced veterans of the Chechen and other wars, they were lightly equipped. They possessed ample supplies of small arms, support weapons, mortars and appropriate ammunition, but they appeared to have only two BTR-60 APCs (quite possibly captured from government forces in the first days of the attack), a single 100mm T-12 antitank gun and a few truck-mounted ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns for use as fire support.

[edit] Dagestan after 1999

Since 2000, Dagestan has been a site of an ongoing, low-level conflict.^[1] The conflict has claimed lives of hundreds of federal servicemen and officials as well as Dagestani insurgents and civilians. According to a July 2005 report by the Russian Academy of Sciences, there were 70 "terror attacks" in Dagestan in the first six months of 2005, compared with 30 for all of 2004.

The attacks, which are becoming more sophisticated and deadly, primarily target Russian soldiers and Dagestani police and government officials. Sources indicate that as many as 2,000 Islamic insurgents, many belonging to the Jamaat Sharia group, are involved in the Dagestani Jihad. After a string of attacks and assassinations, the Sharia Jamaat claimed legitimate power in Dagestan. On July 12, 2005, the Sharia Jamaat confirmed the death of its commander, Rasul Makasharipov.^[2]