by Gordon M. Hahn
The website of the Imarat Kavkaz (IK) and that of its Dagestani network, the Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV), report that just recently appointed IK amir Abu Usman al Gimravii (born Magomed Suleimanov), DV amir Sayid abu Mukhammad Arakanskii, and Arakanskii’s naib (deputy) Abdulla the have all been killed (http://www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2015/08/11/109903/komandovanie-imarata-kavkaz-podtverdilo-shakhadu-inshaallakh-amira-ik-abu-usmana-gimrinskogo.shtml and http://vd.ag/poslednyaya-bitva-voina-ne-poslednyaya-bitva-ummy.djihad). Abdulla may be one and the same as recently appointed Abu Abdulla Kasumkentskii , the new amir for the DV’s Sountern Sector (Yuzhnyi sector or YuS), covering the southern part of Dagestan in and around ancient Derbent (http://gordonhahn.com/2015/08/02/the-imarat-kavkaz-caucasus-emirate-shows-some-life-in-its-dagestan-vilaiyat/).
All three mujahedin had just taken their positions, with Gimravii becoming CE amir this spring after the announcement of his predecessor’s demise (http://gordonhahn.com/2015/04/20/changes-in-the-caucasus-emirates-leadership-and-structure-after-the-defections-to-the-islamic-state/). Gimravii then appointed Arakanskii to be the DV’s amir.
Ironically, Gimravii just issued days ago his condolences regarding the news confirming Taliban amir Mullah Omar’s death years ago (www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2015/08/04/109824/imarat-kavkaz–amir-ik-abu-usman-soboleznovanie-dlya-ummy-v-svyazi-s-shakhadoj-mullo-omara-(audio).shtml).
On Gimravii’s biograpghy see http://gordonhahn.com/2015/07/05/the-caucasus-emirates-new-amir-abu-usman-gimravii-born-magomed-suleimanov/.
Gimravii’s likely successor is likely to be the DV’s new Mountain Sector (GS) amir Abu Dujan Gimrinskii appointed by Gimravii last month. In his video statement after appointment DV GS amir Gimrinskii urged IK amir Gimravii to continue his efforts as amir and underscores the value of Muslim blood – a reference to the Islamic State’s more brutal terrorism and to the conflict for supremacy within the gobal jihadi movement between IS and groups siding with Al Qa`ida against IS such as the IK, Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar Sham, Jeish Shariah, Jeish al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar, the Imarat Kavkaz in Sham (the Caucasus Emirate in the Levant), and others (http://vd.ag/prisyaga-amira-gs-muxiammada-abu-dudzhany-gimrinskogo.djihad).
Imarat Kavkaz’s Dagestan Vilaiyat Mountain Sector amir Abu Dujan Gimrinskii
Both men, Gimravii and Gimrinskii, hail from the village of Gimri in the central mountainous region of Dagestan. IK amir Suleimanov-Gimravii made Abu Dujan Gimrinskii his first appointment, placing him at the head of the same DV sector Gimravii himself headed until becoming IK amir. Gimravii was also the DV’s shariah court qadi and may remain so, since no appointment of a new one to replace Gimravii has been made.
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Gordon M. Hahn is an Analyst and Advisory Board Member of the Geostrategic Forecasting Corporation, Chicago, Illinois; Senior Researcher, Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group, San Jose, California Analyst/Consultant, Russia Other Points of View – Russia Media Watch; and Senior Researcher and Adjunct Professor, MonTREP, Monterey, California. Dr Hahn is author of three well-received books, Russia’s Revolution From Above (Transaction, 2002), Russia’s Islamic Threat (Yale University Press, 2007), which was named an outstanding title of 2007 by Choice magazine, and The ‘Caucasus Emirate’ Mujahedin: Global Jihadism in Russia’s North Caucasus and Beyond (McFarland Publishers, 2014). He also has authored hundreds of articles in scholarly journals and other publications on Russian, Eurasian and international politics and wrote, edited and published the Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report at CSIS from 2010-2013. Dr. Hahn has been a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2011-2013) and a Visiting Scholar at both the Hoover Institution and the Kennan Institute.