The American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus

ACPC Weekly News UPDATE
August 2, 2010 – August 8, 2010

Schism in the North Caucasus militant leadership?

On August 4^th, Doku Umarov, the self-proclaimed Emir of the Caucasus Emirate, revoked his resignation as the leader of the North Caucasus militants, which was announced just three days earlier. In the latest video clip posted on a militant website Umarov claimed the earlier footage of him announcing the resignation was fabricated. Shortly after the revocation, Umarov suspended Movladi Udugov as the main ideologue and the head of the North Caucasus Emirate’s press service and stated that the release of the footage announcing his resignation was not intended for public.

Experts have questioned whether the announcement of the transition in the militant leadership, intentional or accidental, demonstrates a factional split characterized by conflicting views among high ranking militants regarding the re-introduction of soft targets tactics, such as suicide bombings that risk alienating the local population and interrupting recruitment efforts.

Despite the perceived confusion among the militant leadership, attacks and skirmishes continued unabated in the region. At least eight security servicemen were killed and nine injured in separate attacks in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan last week.

Related articles:

Number of injured police in shootout in Dagestan rises to six
Caucasian Knot, August 7, 2010 (in Russian)

Chechen rebel leader revokes resignation
Associated Press, August 5, 2010

Divided dark personality
Kommersant, August 5, 2010 (in Russian)

Umarov’s U-turn
RFE/RL, August 4, 2010

Large reward offered for information about killers of police officers in Chechnya
Caucasian Knot, August 3, 2010 (in Russian)

Video announces resignation of Chechen rebel
The Associated Press, August 2, 2010
Killer of opposition leader murdered in Ingushetia
On Wednesday, August 5, a group of gunmen killed an Interior Ministry officer convicted earlier of fatally shooting Magomed Yevloyev, a prominent opposition leader, in August 2008. Ibragim D. Yevloyev (the two men shared a last name but were not related) confessed to accidentally shooting Magomed Yevloyev while in police custody, and was sentenced to two years in a minimum security penal colony. Less than three months later, the supreme court of Ingushetia changed the sentence to house arrest. The decision angered the victim’s friends and family, as the perpetrator of a seemingly blatant crime was released and subsequently reinstated as a police officer and even authorized to carry a weapon. Sherip Tepsayev, Mr. Yevloyev’s lawyer, said he might have been killed in an act of revenge and added that Yevloyev was fearful for his life due to the centuries-old local tradition of blood feud. He added that the unusually lenient punishment meted out by the justice system “could have played a role” in his killing.