Muslim Atayev
Encyclopedia
Muslim Atayev also known as Emir
Sayfullah was the founder the Yarmuk Jamaat
, which later became part of the Caucasus Front
's Kabardino-Balkaria
n Sector in the Russian-held Caucasian Muslim state Kabardino-Balkaria
of the Second Chechen War
. Atayev was an ethnic Balkar and started his military career as a volunteer fighting in Chechnya
.
training camps in Georgia. Atayev led a group of an estimated 20-30 volunteers from Kabardino-Balkaria
in the Ruslan Gelayev-led field force that crossed back into the North Caucasus
republics in the autumn of 2002. After fighting in Ingushetia
, Atayev led the KBR guerrillas
back into their home republic, creating the Kabardino-Balkarian Islamic Jamaat
Yarmuk in
August 2004 as a local independent militant operational group.
Atayev and several comrades were killed in a spectacular January 2005 urban gun-battle after being cornered by police in a Nalchik apartment building, that also killed his wife and three other women.
Muslim Atayev was succeeded by Anzor Astemirov
.
that they did not have a son but an 8-month old baby girl named Leila, and that they haven't seen her since. Atayev's mother said her son and daughter-in-law had telephoned relatives during the siege
, on the night before the final assault, to say the baby was with them but they hoped they would be allowed to pass her out through the door before any attack took place. The mothers had written to the prosecutor, asking him to return Leila to them, alive or dead. His office publicly denies that any such request has been made.
An IWPR
correspondent observed the January 27 assault from 100 metres away, and witnessed special forces carrying a stretcher on which there was something wrapped in white material out of the besieged building an hour and a half before the end of the operation. The bundle looked like the body of a child. They put it into a police car with dark-tinted windows.
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Sayfullah was the founder the Yarmuk Jamaat
Yarmuk Jamaat
Yarmuk Jamaat is a militant Islamist jamaat organization connected to numerous attacks against the local and federal security forces in Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in the North Caucasus...
, which later became part of the Caucasus Front
Caucasian Front (Chechen War)
The Caucasian Front also called Caucasus Front or the Caucasian Mujahadeen, was formally established in May 2005 as an Islamic structural unit of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria's armed forces by the decree of the separatist President of Chechnya Abdul-Halim Sadulayev during the Second Chechen...
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
n Sector in the Russian-held Caucasian Muslim state Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
of the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
. Atayev was an ethnic Balkar and started his military career as a volunteer fighting in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
.
Biography
Muslim Atayev began his military career training in one of the Pankisi GorgePankisi Gorge
The Pankisi Gorge or Pankisi is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it is included in the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region...
training camps in Georgia. Atayev led a group of an estimated 20-30 volunteers from Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
in the Ruslan Gelayev-led field force that crossed back into the North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
republics in the autumn of 2002. After fighting in Ingushetia
Ingushetia
The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
, Atayev led the KBR guerrillas
back into their home republic, creating the Kabardino-Balkarian Islamic Jamaat
Jamaat
The term Jamaat can apply to the following:*Jamia - a gathering or congregatation; place of gathering.*Jamaat-e-Islami - a South Asian Islamic movement based in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India .*Jamaat-ul-Muslimeen - a Muslim organization in Indo-Pak.*Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind - an Islamic group in...
Yarmuk in
August 2004 as a local independent militant operational group.
Atayev and several comrades were killed in a spectacular January 2005 urban gun-battle after being cornered by police in a Nalchik apartment building, that also killed his wife and three other women.
Muslim Atayev was succeeded by Anzor Astemirov
Anzor Astemirov
Anzor Astemirov , also known as Emir Sayfullah , was an Islamist militant leader in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus....
.
Atayev's lost daughter
Atayev and his wife reportedly had a baby of which it's still not clear what became of him/her. The prosecutor in Nalchik said that Atayev had a two-year-old son, who has been handed over to relatives and is now with his grandmother in Kendelen. The mothers of both Atayev and his wife Katsieva told the Institute for War and Peace ReportingInstitute for War and Peace Reporting
Institute for War & Peace Reporting is an international media development charity, established in 1991. It runs major programmes in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Congo DRC, Tunisia and Uganda...
that they did not have a son but an 8-month old baby girl named Leila, and that they haven't seen her since. Atayev's mother said her son and daughter-in-law had telephoned relatives during the siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
, on the night before the final assault, to say the baby was with them but they hoped they would be allowed to pass her out through the door before any attack took place. The mothers had written to the prosecutor, asking him to return Leila to them, alive or dead. His office publicly denies that any such request has been made.
An IWPR
IWPR
IWPR may refer to:* Institute for War and Peace Reporting* Institute for Women's Policy Research...
correspondent observed the January 27 assault from 100 metres away, and witnessed special forces carrying a stretcher on which there was something wrapped in white material out of the besieged building an hour and a half before the end of the operation. The bundle looked like the body of a child. They put it into a police car with dark-tinted windows.