War in Dagestan (1999)
In April 1998, the group publicly declared that its long-term aim was the creation of a union of Chechnya and Dagestan under Islamic rule and the expulsion of Russians from the entire Caucasian Region.[7] A series of invasions of Dagestan from Chechnya took place during the inter-war period, culminating in the 1997 attack on a federal military garrison of the 136th Motorized Rifle Regiment near the Dagestani town of Buinaksk.On 7 August Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab officially launched an invasion into Dagestan with a group of roughly 1,500–2,000 armed militants consisting of Islamic radicals from Chechnya, including other international Islamists.[10][page needed] They seized villages in the districts of Tsumadi[11] (Echeda, Gakko, Kedy, Kvanada, Gadiri and Gigatl) and Botlikh[12] (Godoberi, Miarso, Shodroda, Ansalta, Rakhata and Inkhelo).[1] On 10 August, they announced the birth of the "independent Islamic State of Dagestan" and declared war on "the traitorous Dagestani government" and "Russia's occupation units".On the morning of 5 September, Chechen rebels launched a second invasion into the lowland Novolaksky region of Dagestan, seizing the border village of Tukhchar, this time with a larger force numbering 200 fighters led by Umar Edilsultanov.According to researcher Robert Bruce Ware, Basayev and Khattab's invasions were potentially genocidal, in that they attacked mountain villages and destroyed entire populations of small ethno-linguistic groups.The government forces consisted of three main elements: light and air mobile infantry units able to operate in the mountains and in small ambush and assault forces; larger mechanized units to seal areas off and maintain area security; and artillery with air support elements that were able to interdict supply lines and box in the rebels.Most of the 'teeth' were drawn from regular army units, with the exception of the MVD's Internal Troops' 102nd Brigade, the Rus commando force and the local Dagestani OMON.Makhachala long expected an incident of this sort, and since its OMON troops proved ineffectual in 1996 when Chechen rebels seized hostages in the Dagestani city of Kizlyar, it placed a part of its scarce resources into turning this force into a small local army.Despite their Dagestani origins, he and the self-styled prime minister of 'Islamic Dagestan', Ramazanov, proved marginal, reflecting their failure to bring recruits to their side after they launched the operation.However, according to Berezovsky "Udugov and Basayev conspired with Stepashin and Putin to provoke a war to topple Maskhadov..., but the Chechen condition was for the Russian army to stop at the Terek River."[23] In September 1999, transcripts of a number of alleged phone conversations conducted by Boris Berezovsky with Movladi Udugov, Gaji Makhachev and other radical Chechens in June and July 1999 were published by Moskovskij Komsomolets newspaper.The meeting was arranged by a retired officer of the GRU, Anton Surikov, and took place at a villa owned by the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi between Nice and Monaco.[29] According to a press report cited by Timur Muzayev from the International Institute of Humanities and Political Research, speakers at the rally in Grozny on 3 July 1999 included Aslan Maskhadov, Shamil Basayev, and Ruslan Gelayev; these men and others called for reconciliation and unity.