by Gordon M. Hahn
The amir of Jeish al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar’s (JMA)’s Latakiya province jamaats, amir Khairullah, issued a video message to the CE-loyal branch of the the CE’s Chechnya network, the Nokchicho Vilaiyat (NV). Khairullah said the JMA was inspired by the NV’s attack in Groznyi, Chechnya in December of last year and was willing to return to Chechnya to support the CE’s jihad there (http://www.akhbarsham.info/2015/04/05/129/.
The amir of one of the NV’s two fronts – Markhan, amir of the NV’s Eastern Front – defected to the Islamic State (IS) in December of last year (www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2014/12/25/107471.shtml). The CE has sided with Al Qa`ida, Jabhat al-Nusrah and other groups in the conflict between them and IS.
If by sending a series of CE-tied amirs to Syria late CE amir Doku ‘Abu Usman’ Umarov’s did not intend to have fighters gain experience, deepen CE ties with the global jihadi revolutionary alliance, and have them return to the CE’s benefit, then this may be the practical result. Moreover, the defection of CE Dagestani and Chechen amirs in December may ultimately strengthen the jihad in the North Caucasus but at the expense of the jihadi organization and would-be Islamic state he helped found in October 2007.
For further reading on the CE in Iraq and Syria and the role of the CE and other North Caucasus mujahedin there, see:
WHITE PAPER: “The Caucasus Emirate and Other North Caucasus Mujahedin in Syria and the Implications for Russia, Eurasia, and the Global Jihadi Revolutionary Movement,” Russian and Eurasian Politics White Paper, 1 April 2014, http://gordonhahn.com/2014/04/01/the-caucasus-emirate-and-other-north-caucasus-mujahedin-in-syria-implications-for-russia-eurasia-and-the-global-jihadi-revolutionary-movement/
Gordon M. Hahn, REPORT: The Caucasus Emirate in the Levant and the IS-AQ Fitna, Gordonhahn.com Russian and Eurasian Politics, 25 February 2015, http://gordonhahn.com/2015/02/25/the-caucasus-emirate-in-the-levant-and-the-is-aq-fitna-complete-parts-1-and-2/
Gordon M. Hahn, “The Islamic State-Al Qa`ida Tussle Over the Caucasus Emirate Continues,” Gordonhahn.com Russian and Eurasian Politics, 10 March 2015, http://gordonhahn.com/2015/03/10/the-islamic-state-al-qaida-tussle-over-the-caucasus-emirate-continues/
Gordon M. Hahn, “The Nogai Steppe Vilaiyat of the Caucasus Emirate under Jeish al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar,”Gordonhahn.com Russian and Eurasian Politics, 4 March 2015, http://gordonhahn.com/2015/03/04/the-nogai-steppe-vilaiyat-of-the-caucasus-emirate-under-jeish-al-muhajirin-wal-ansar-in-syria/
Gordon M. Hahn, RADIO INTERVIEW, Interview on North Caucasian and Eurasian Global Jihadism and Immigrant Screening, Ian McMasters’ Background Briefing, 27 February 2015, http://ianmasters.com/sites/default/files/bbriefing_2015_02_26full_audioport.mp3
BOOK: The Caucasus Emirate Mujahedin: Global Jihadism in Russia’s North Caucasus and Beyond(McFarland Publishers, 2014).
