Liberation Army of Dagestan
Encyclopedia
Liberation army of Dagestan (Dagestan Liberation Army, Army of the Liberation of Dagestan) is a militant group that claimed responsibility for the 1999 Russian apartment bombings
.
news agency in Grozny
received a phone call from someone by the name of Khasbulat. The caller identified himself as a member of the Army of the Liberation of Dagestan and claimed that it was responsible for the explosion at Manezhnaya Square
in Moscow on 31 August 1999. He added that similar acts would occur throughout the Russian Federation until Russian soldiers left Dagestan. According to Khasbulat, the Army of the Liberation of Dagestan was a subdivision of the Islamic Army of Caucasus led by Sheikh Muhammed Baggaudin. The leader of the Wahhabi community, Sheikh Baggaudin, a native in the village of Karamakhi
, had created this army in response to the assault of the federal troops on his birthplace.
, Chabanmakhi and a few other neighbouring villages in central Dagestan. They also wrote that if so, they believe "it is impossible that the Moscow authorities did not know of the plans, at least in general terms", noting that "even before Stepashin visited the district a year earlier, they must have been receiving numerous reports from, in particular, the FSB, the Interior ministry and probably eavesdropping agency FAPSI
." A journalist who in mid-August 1999 traveled to Karamakhi and interviewed some villagers and their military Commander General Dzherollak, wrote: "The Wahhabis' trucks go all over Russia. Even one wrong move in Moscow or Makhachkala, they warn, will lead to bombs and bloodshed everywhere." According to the journalist the Wahhabis had told him, "if they start bombing us, we know where our bombs will explode." In the last days of August, Russian military launched an aerial bombing of the villages.
Russian apartment bombings
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing 293 people and injuring 651. The explosions occurred in Buynaksk on 4 September, Moscow on 9 and 13 September, and...
.
First phone call
On September 2, 1999 a journalist working for the Agence France-PresseAgence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
news agency in Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
received a phone call from someone by the name of Khasbulat. The caller identified himself as a member of the Army of the Liberation of Dagestan and claimed that it was responsible for the explosion at Manezhnaya Square
Manezhnaya Square
Manezhnaya Square, — the name of squares in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in Russia:* Manezhnaya Square, Moscow* Manezhnaya Square, Saint Petersburg...
in Moscow on 31 August 1999. He added that similar acts would occur throughout the Russian Federation until Russian soldiers left Dagestan. According to Khasbulat, the Army of the Liberation of Dagestan was a subdivision of the Islamic Army of Caucasus led by Sheikh Muhammed Baggaudin. The leader of the Wahhabi community, Sheikh Baggaudin, a native in the village of Karamakhi
Karamakhi
Karamakhi is a rural locality in Buynaksky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia.-Overview:In 1997-1999, Karamakhi became a hotbed of radical islamism...
, had created this army in response to the assault of the federal troops on his birthplace.
Anonymous phone call
On September 9, 1999, an anonymous person speaking with a Caucasian accent called the Interfax news agency, saying that the blasts in Moscow and Buynaksk were "our response to the bombings of civilians in the villages in Chechnya and Dagestan."Second phone call
On September 15, 1999, an unidentified man, again speaking with a Caucasian accent, called the ITAR-TASS news agency, claiming to represent the Liberation army of Dagestan. He said, that the explosions in Buynaksk and Moscow were carried out by his organization. According to him the attacks were a retaliation to the deaths of Muslim women and children during Russian air raids in Dagestan. "We will answer death with death," the caller said.Officials
Russian officials from both the Interior Ministry and FSB at the time expressed skepticism over the claims. Sergei Bogdanov of the FSB press service in Moscow said that the words of a previously unknown individual representing a semimythical organization should not be considered as reliable. Bogdanov insisted that the organization had nothing to do with the bombing. On September 15, 1999 a Dagestani official also denied the existence of a "Dagestan Liberation Army".Reddaway and Glinski
According to professor Peter Reddaway and researcher Dmitri Glinski, the involvement of the Liberation army of Dagestan is a more plausible theory than others and may indeed have perpetrated them, with our without Russian government assistance. They wrote that if this was the case the group would likely originate from the religious conservative villages KaramakhiKaramakhi
Karamakhi is a rural locality in Buynaksky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia.-Overview:In 1997-1999, Karamakhi became a hotbed of radical islamism...
, Chabanmakhi and a few other neighbouring villages in central Dagestan. They also wrote that if so, they believe "it is impossible that the Moscow authorities did not know of the plans, at least in general terms", noting that "even before Stepashin visited the district a year earlier, they must have been receiving numerous reports from, in particular, the FSB, the Interior ministry and probably eavesdropping agency FAPSI
FAPSI
FAPSI or Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information was a Russian government agency, which was responsible for signal intelligence and security of governmental communications...
." A journalist who in mid-August 1999 traveled to Karamakhi and interviewed some villagers and their military Commander General Dzherollak, wrote: "The Wahhabis' trucks go all over Russia. Even one wrong move in Moscow or Makhachkala, they warn, will lead to bombs and bloodshed everywhere." According to the journalist the Wahhabis had told him, "if they start bombing us, we know where our bombs will explode." In the last days of August, Russian military launched an aerial bombing of the villages.