Mujahideen in Chechnya
In the case of the Chechen-Russian conflict, the term Mujahideen has often been used to refer to all separatist fighters. In this article however, it will be used to refer to the foreign, non-Chechen fighters who joined the separatists’ cause for the sake of Jihad. In other literature dealing with this conflict they are often called Ansaar (helpers) to prevent confusion with the native fighters.
Foreign Mujahideen have played a part in both Chechen wars. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent Chechen declaration of independence, foreign fighters started entering the region and allied themselves with local Islamist rebels (most notably Shamil Basayev). Most of them were veterans of the Soviet-Afghan war and prior to the Russian invasion, they used their expertise to train the Chechen separatists. During the First Chechen War they were notorious and feared for their ‘hit and run’ guerilla tactics. Ambushing military convoys and raiding bases, they inflicted severe casualties on the badly prepared Russian Army. The Mujahideen also made a significant financial contribution to the separatists’ cause. With their access to the immense wealth of Salafist charities like al-Haramein, they soon became an invaluable source of funds for the Chechen resistance, which had little resources of its own.
After the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya most of the Mujahideen decided to remain in the country. In 1999, foreign Mujahideen would play an important role in the ill-fated Chechen incursion into Dagestan, where they suffered a decisive defeat and where forced to retreat back into Chechnya. The incursion provided the new Russian government with a pretext for intervention and in December 1999 Russian ground forces invaded Chechnya again.
In the Second Chechen War the separatists were less successful. Faced with a better prepared and more determined Russian army, the Chechens were unable to hold their ground and in February 2000, Russian officials claimed the separatists had been defeated. The Russians also succeeded in eliminating the most prominent Mujahideen commanders (most notably Ibn al-Khattab, Abu al-Walid and Abu Omar al-Saif).
Although the region has since been far from stable, separatist activity has decreased dramatically and although some foreign fighters are still active in Chechnya, interest seems to have shifted to other conflicts like the Iraqi insurgency, the War in Somalia and the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
( sources of wekipedia)