Flanked by almost 20 men with rifles, Omar Abu al-Chechen knelt on a carpet and delivered a rousing speech urging fellow Muslims to support the jihad against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Dressed almost entirely in black, the militant from Russia’s Chechnya region declared that an Islamist state is within reach.
Al-Chechen’s recently distributed video highlights the role militants from the volatile North Caucasus region now play in Syria’s civil war, fighting a government that has been backed by Russia and staunchly protected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It also puts in focus the security risks they may pose for Russia if they return to the Russian region.
“Jihad needs very many things. Firstly, it needs money. Much is dependent on money today for jihad,” said al-Chechen, his nom de guerre, the leader of what rebels and Web sites call the Brigade of Migrants, a Syrian opposition group of foreign fighters.
Syrian rebels confirmed separately that he is in Syria and the leader of the brigade.
While Moscow has been one of al-Assad’s main protectors, members of an Islamist insurgency involved in daily clashes in Russia’s predominantly Muslim North Caucasus have trickled into Syria to fight for the rebels.
“This is the first time that a mass number of Chechens have taken part in military actions abroad,” Paris-based analyst Mairbek Vatchagayev said, adding that claims had been made that Chechens had fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan or Iraq, but no proof had been given.
Syrian soldiers and analysts say there are dozens of fighters in Syria from the North Caucasus, a region where militants wage daily violence to establish an Islamic state.
“They are very significant, in some areas they are leading the fighting and some of them are leaders of Brigades. They are experienced fighters and also they are fighting based on ideological belief, so they do not want anything in return,” a source in Syria said.
One Syrian opposition source said the Chechens are the second-biggest force of foreigners after Libyans, who joined the Syrian uprising after overthrowing former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said there are no Chechens fighting in Syria, a statement analysts attribute to his loyalty to Moscow.
Russia has used its UN Security Council veto to protect al-Assad from three resolutions meant to pressure him to end violence that has killed 70,000 in the nearly two year-long conflict. Having fighters from Russia fighting against him is sure to be embarrassing for Putin.
The bloodshed in the North Caucasus is rooted in two wars that Moscow fought with Chechen separatists after the Soviet Union’s fall and these fighters could pose a security risk for Russia if they return.
The region is close to Sochi, the Black Sea and Caucasus Mountain resort city where Moscow will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, a sworn target of Russia’s Islamist insurgents, led by the country’s most-wanted man, Doku Umarov.
Calling itself the Caucasus Emirate, Umarov’s Islamist militant group has promised to attack the Games. It claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport in January 2011 that killed 37 people and also said it was behind the 2010 subway bombings in Moscow that killed 40.
Last year, Umarov in a video told Syrian militants they were in the prayers of the Caucasus Emirate.
The presence of foreign fighters in Syria, many of whom espouse a firebrand form of Islam, has troubled many Syrians who see the fight as a secular war to oust al-Assad.
“We call all brothers from all the countries, please, my brothers we do not need men. Stay in your own countries and do something good inside your own countries. If you want to help us just send us weapons or funding or even pray for us, but you do not have to come to Syria,” said Brigadier Selim Idris, head of a rebel military command.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS