Rappani Khalilov

Rappani Khalilov
Khalilov (centre) together with Sheikh Abdul-Halim and Abu Hafs al-Urduni.
Nickname(s)	Rabbani
Born	27.10.1969 Buynaksk, Dagestan
Died	17.09.2007 Novy Sulak, Dagestan
Allegiance	Shariat Jamaat
Battles/wars	Invasion of Dagestan Second Chechen War

Rappani Khalilov (Russian: Раппани Халилов) (October 27, 1969 – September 17, 2007), also known as Rabbani, was the militant leader of the Shariat Jamaat of the Caucasian Front during the Second Chechen War, in the volatile southern Russian republic of Dagestan. He was killed on September 17, 2007 in a fierce shoot-out with the Russian special forces.

Biography

Early life and militant activity

Khalilov was an ethnic Lak, the sixth largest ethnic group in Dagestan. In 1944 his ancestors were forcibly resettled from the mountains to the territory of a gorge in Aukhovsky (Novalaksky) District in the then-Chechen-Ingush ASSR, which was vacated following the deportation of the Chechens to Siberia and subsequently became part of the Dagestan ASSR. Khalilov himself, however, was born and grew up in the city of Buynaksk in Dagestan. Khalilov's first name, Rabbani, means "pertaining to God" in Arabic and is rendered Rappani in local dialect.^[1]

Khalilov was unknown to Dagestani security forces prior to 1998. In the Soviet times he had served as a border guard along the border with Mongolia; after that, he wae was a co-owner of a family bakery. Khalilov came to the attention of the authorities in 1998 when he married the sister of the foreign mujahideen commander Ibn al-Khattab's ethnic Dargin wife; he moved to her home village of Karamakhi, which acquired notoriety in the summer of the same year, when its residents introduced Sharia law and declared an Islamic state. Khalilov grew close to local Islamist ideologists and is thought to have met Khattab and Shamil Basayev at a militant training camp in Serzhen-Yurt, south-eastern Chechnya. In 1999 he was involved in the Dagestan War in which Khattab and Basayev sought to create an Islamic superstate out of Chechnya and Dagestan. After that raid was suppressed, he created his own unit of mostly Dagestani rebels.^[2]

Leader of Dagestani insurgency

Khalilov first became well known after the January 18, 2002, bombing of a Russian military truck, which killed seven Interior Ministry soldiers in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala. He was soon blamed by the FSB to have ordered the bombing of a parade near the military barracks in the city of Kaspiysk during a Russian Victory Day celebrations on May 9, 2002,^[3]^[4] but Khalilov and Shariat Jamaat always denied responsibility for this attack saying they don't target civilians (the blast killed at least 19 soldiers and 15 civilians, including 12 children).

Khalilov was thought to operate in south-eastern Chechnya and the mountainous regions of western Dagestan. According to one expert cited by Radio Free Europe, "Khalilov's name and reputation was indeed comparable to that of Basayev."^[5] According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Khalilov was "highly popular with the local youth, whom he is actively drawing into his ranks."^[6] He has refrained from attacking civilians and instead targeted strictly police and military targets, as well as government officials and politicians across the poverty-stricken republic of Dagestan.

After former Chechen President Sheikh Abdul-Halim opened up the Caucasian Front to spread the insurgency across the entire North Caucasus region of Russia, it is thought that Khalilov came under the authority of the Chechen rebels. This was confirmed when in a September 2006 decree, Doku Umarov, the successor to Abdul-Halim Sadulayev named Khalilov as a Brigadier General and made him as the commander of the Dagestan front.

Death and legacy

On September 17, 2007, Russian special forces launched an operation in the Dagestani settlement of Novy Sulak.^[7] Two gunmen were blocked in a private residence by several hundred heavily armed republican and federal MVD troops;^[8] after the fighters refused to surrender, a 12-hour gun battle ensued during which the MVD troops were reinforced by the FSB Vympel special forces unit. According to the official information, only two troops were wounded in the firefight, but according to IWPR one was killed and ten were wounded.^[9] RPO-A flamethrowers were used by the commandos to destroy the house, but the shooting only ceased at dawn of the next day, when the residence was crushed to the ground by an army tank and seven armoured personnel carriers.^[10]

After examining the rubble, two bodies were recovered, identified as belonging to Rappani Khalilov and his deputy and right-hand man Nabi Nabiyev (also known as Abdurakhman);^[5]^[11] Khalilov's death was later confirmed by the rebel sources. Russian authorities announced they would not release the corpses for burial; Doku Umarov honored his fallen subordinate by granting Khalilov the posthumous rank of general and the "Honor of the Nation" award, the highest decoration bestowed within the separatist movement. Khalilov's deputy Abdul Madzhid became his official successor.^[12]

References

↑ [tt_news]=2890 "single - The Jamestown Foundation". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ "Rappani Khalilov Reportedly Killed". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
↑ DAGESTANI BLAST INQUIRY "FLOUNDERING"
↑ Kaspiisk Bombing Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
1 2 "Russia Says Top Militant Killed In Daghestan". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ "Programs - The Jamestown Foundation". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ Top militant leader killed in southern Russia
↑ "RFE/RL Newsline Archive". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ "Institute for War and Peace Reporting". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ [tt_news]=4424&tx_ttnews[backPid]=189&no_cache=1 "single - The Jamestown Foundation". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ "Chechen top warlord killed in special operation in Daghestan". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
↑ "Political and rebel leadership changes in Dagestan". Retrieved 8 December 2014.

Chechen–Russian conflict

Key events	Conflict	Federalists	Separatists	Mujahideen

Wars First Chechen War War of Dagestan Second Chechen War War in Ingushetia First Chechen War (1994–96) 1994 Grozny battle 1994 Khankala battle 1994–95 Grozny battle 1996 Shatoy ambush 1996 Grozny battle 1996 Khasavyurt accord Second Chechen War (1999–2009) 1999 Chechnya bombing 1999–2000 Grozny battle 2000 Height 776 battle 2000 Komsomolskoye battle 2000 Zhani ambush 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash 2004 Nazran raid 2004 Grozny raid 2005 Nalchik raid Counter-insurgency operations Guerrilla phase Insurgency (2009–present) Insurgency in the North Caucasus	Major attacks 1995 Budyonnovsk hostage crisis 1996 Black Sea hostage crisis 1996 Kizlyar hostage crisis 1999 Apartment bombings 2002 Moscow hostage crisis 2002 Grozny truck bombing 2004 Aircraft bombings 2004 Beslan school siege Related topics Censorship of Chechnya coverage Crimes and terrorism Mass graves Suicide attacks Assassinations Casualties (Second Chechen War) Aircraft losses International response Politics of Chechnya Chechenpress Kavkaz Center In culture Alexandra Angel of Grozny Ant in a Glass Jar Polina Zherebtsova's Journal The 3 Rooms of Melancholia The Pathologies The Search War	Combatants Russian Federation Armed Forces Ground Forces Ministry of Internal Affairs OMON ODON Internal Troops Federal Security Service Main Intelligence Directorate Special Forces (Spetsnaz) Republic of Chechnya Militia (Kadyrovtsy) Leaders Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin Chechnya † Akhmad Kadyrov Alu Alkhanov Ramzan Kadyrov † Dzhabrail Yamadayev † Ruslan Yamadayev † Sulim Yamadayev	Combatants Ichkeria Caucasian Front Leaders † Dzhokhar Dudayev † Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev † Aslan Maskhadov † Abdul-Halim Sadulayev † Ruslan Gelayev † Shamil Basayev † Arbi Barayev † Salman Raduyev Akhmed Zakayev † Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev † Vakha Arsanov Ilyas Akhmadov † Movsar Barayev † Muslim Atayev † Rasul Makasharipov † Ilias Gorchkhanov † Rappani Khalilov	Combatants Caucasus Emirate Arab Mujahideen Islamic International Brigade Riyad-us Saliheen Wilayah al-Qawqaz Leaders † Magomed Suleimanov † Aliaskhab Kebekov † Dokka Umarov Aslambek Vadalov (POW) Ali Taziev † Anzor Astemirov † Supyan Abdullayev Aslan Byutukayev Movladi Udugov † Khuseyn Gakayev Tarkhan Gaziyev † Said Buryatsky † Magomed Vagabov Rustam Asildarov † Asker Dzhappuyev † Arthur Getagazhev † Ibn al-Khattab † Abu al-Walid † Abu Hafs al-Urduni † Muhannad † Abdulla Kurd

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.