Tsumadin-Botlikh Campaign
The Tsumadin-Botlikh Campaign , also known as the Battles in the Tsumadin and Botlikh Districts , was a military operation between Russian troops ( the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs ) and illegal armed groups ( IMMB and IPON ) in the Tsumadin and Botlikh Districts . It was the initial stage of the Chechen mujahideen invasion of Dagestan.
| Tsumadin-Botlikh Campaign | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Chechen Republic of Ichkeria |
 Russia | ||||||||
Armed seperatist formations
According to Russian military sources, the groups numbered between 1,500 and 2,000 militants[1]. Most of the militants were indoctrinated at the Kavkaz terrorist center and at the Urus-Martan jamaat camp. Some residents of Dagestan supported the groups.[1]
The leader of the gangs was the well-known Chechen terrorist, Amir of the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan , Divisional General of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Shamil Basayev , and his closest assistant was the head of the terrorist center "Kavkaz", Colonel of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Khattab. Russian sources reported that the groups of Vakha Arsanov , Ruslan Gelayev, Arbi Barayev, and Khunkar Israfilov also participated in the incursion into Dagestan, however, independent sources confirm the participation of only Barayev's group " IPON ".
Course of Events
On August 7 , militants began their invasion of Dagestan. That same day, they occupied the villages of Ansalta , Rakhata , and Shodroda in the Botlikh District . At the same time, Wahhabi rebellions broke out in the villages of Echeda and Khvaini in the Tsumadin District . Units of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan blocked the road in the direction of the village of Botlikh. Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin instructed Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Anatoly Kvashnin and Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov to "resolve the task of normalizing the situation on the Chechen-Dagestani border with maximum efficiency."
On August 8 , Islamic terrorists captured the villages of Tando , Zibirkhali , Beledi , and Ashino in the Botlikh District . Additional forces from the republic's police, Internal Troops, and the Ministry of Defense were deployed to the district. The republic's security forces decided to conduct a large-scale counter-terrorism operation.
Russian troops fired on militants near the village of Echeda in the Tsumadinsky district. According to official reports, four terrorists were killed in the attack.
August 9–10 , the Khasavyurt and Kizilyurt districts of Dagestan began receiving signals from the "Mujahideen of the Caucasus" television channel, which broadcast primarily in Russian in the evenings. The channel broadcast video footage of events in the Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky districts, calls for jihad , and other Wahhabi propaganda. The channel's studio was located in the village of Gilany in the Nozhai-Yurtovsky district of Chechnya.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "IGPI.RU :: Политический мониторинг :: Выпуски политического мониторинга :: Чеченская Республика". www.igpi.ru. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
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