The man known as the emir of Dagestan and leader of the republic’s armed underground, Umalat Magomedov, was killed on New Year’s Eve along with three other high-ranking militants during a shootout that erupted when police officers attempted to pull the militants’ vehicle over not far from the Chechen border. A spokesman for the Federal Security Service (FSB) later announced that authorities had retrieved notebooks from the scene detailing the rebels’ financial expenses and sources of income.

Along with large sums of money received from local businessmen and politicians through extortion and other illegal means, the FSB stated that militants received “tens of millions of rubles” from foreign supporters in the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.

Russian officials, including presidents of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have in the past publicly accused ‘western intelligence agencies’ and al-Qaida operatives of sponsoring militants in the North Caucasus, but excerpts from the rebels’ financial documents released to the media showed no evidence to substantiate claims of Western involvement. It was also unclear whether foreign individuals with ties to al-Qaida or émigrés who sympathize with the militants provided financial support to members of Dagestan’s armed underground.

Umalat Magomedov (also known as “al-Bara”) became the leader of Dagestan’s armed underground in April, 2009. A statement issued on the militants’ website acknowledged Magomedov’s death, but did not name his immediate successor.

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Bank heist, gas station attack illustrate Ingushetia’s lawlessness as authorities struggle to contain militancy

On Sunday, gunmen attacked a gas station located on a federal highway in Ingushetia with rocket propelled grenades, but no one was injured during the ensuing explosion. Attacks on gas stations, usually carried out by militants seeking to extort cash from the owners, are common in Ingushetia. Earlier in the week, a group of five gunmen stole 40 million rubles ($1.32 million) during a brazen attack on an armored cash carrier en route to a local bank branch in Nazran, the republic’s largest city. The attackers, who were armed with automatic rifles and wore face masks, wounded a bank employee before escaping with the stolen cash. So far, authorities have not made any arrests in connection to the robbery and it is not clear who is behind the heist.

Security services and officials have acknowledged that extortion of local businessmen and government officials serves as a significant source of income for militants in the North Caucasus, as evidenced by the discovery of the militants’ “cashbook” in neighboring Dagestan this week. The president of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, has stepped up pressure on government workers by vowing to dismiss any official for paying ‘protection money’ to the militants. Experts suggest that bank robberies and increased attacks on business are the militants’ attempts to seek other channels of income.

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Gas station attacked on “Kavkaz” highway
Lenta.ru, January 3, 2009 (in Russian)