MESOP SPECIAL : JMA To CE In Chechnya – We Were Inspired By Grozny Attack In December

Russian­ speaking Foreign Fighters In Syria Home About & Legal Notice / By Joanna Paraszczuk

Khairullah Shishani, the emir of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA) in Latakia Province, has told militants in Chechnya that the group was inspired by the December terrorist attack in the Chechen capital, Grozny. Muslim Shishani Sayfullakh Shishani Umar Shishani 13.4.2015 JMA To CE In Chechnya: We Were Inspired By Grozny Attack In December | From Chechnya To Syria http://www.chechensinsyria.com/?p=23672 2/6

He said that the militants in JMA were inspired by the attack in Grozny that took place in December 2014. @Mairbek_France Он говорит что‐то интересно здесь? Об ИГИЛе?

ia601501.us.archive.org/34/items/Obras… Joanna Paraszczuk @joaska_ @joaska_ ребята из Сирии передают привет своим братьям в Чечне, говорит, что они готовятся приехать в Чечню, уже имея опыт войны в Сирии 9:32 PM ‐ 12 Apr 2015 mairbek @Mairbek_France Follow 21h

The December 4, 2014 attack on Grozny was large in scale. A group of militants claiming to be from the Caucasus Emirate in Chechnya released a video message on the same day as the attack, in which they claimed responsibility for it.

@joaska_ ребята из Сирии передают привет своим братьям в Чечне, говорит, что они готовятся приехать в Чечню, уже имея опыт войны в Сирии mairbek @Mairbek_France @joaska_ говорит что они были воодушевлены операцией проведенный чеченцами в декабре 2014 года.. 9:34 PM ‐ 12 Apr 2015 mairbek @Mairbek_France Follow 19h 13.4.2015 JMA To CE In Chechnya: We Were Inspired By Grozny Attack In December | From Chechnya To Syria -http://www.chechensinsyria.com/?p=23672 3/6

You might also like The support expressed by Khairullah and his fellow militants is interesting for several reasons: First, the remarks by this group of militants regarding having gained fighting experience in Syria suggests that they were not involved in fighting in the North Caucasus before going to Syria. While a number of North Caucasian militants in Syria were involved in the insurgency in their home region — notably, JMA’s emir or commander Salakhuddin Shishani is reputed have such experience — others have not, though these militants still retain emotional and ideological links with the Islamist insurgency in Chechnya.

Second, this is the first open “official” approval (at least that I have seen) from JMA for the December attack in Grozny. Although JMA­linked social media accounts expressed approval for the attack as it unfolded, those comments were not made in any official capacity by senior JMA figures. Khairullah is a JMA emir, albeit in Latakia which is not JMA’s primary fighting location. Khairullah’s approval of the Grozny attacks raises another important point — i.e. the fact that JMA was not behind the attacks, or in league with those who carried them out.

Here, we see that JMA says the attacks have inspired it, not the other way around. While some media outlets rushed to suggest that JMA was behind the attacks in Grozny, there was never any evidence to support this. More that that, such a move on JMA’s part would go completely against the group’s activities and sphere of influence to date. JMA is a displaced group of militants — as this message from Khairullah shows — whose members have retained an affiliation with their ideological and emotional “parent” at home in the North Caucasus.