On 23 June, ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani announced the creation of 'Wilayat Qawqaz', or Caucasus Province, in an audio statement via social media. This development shouldn't come as a huge surprise: since autumn last year, several commanders from Chechnya and Dagestan have pledged allegiance to ISIS publicly. And in recent weeks, there have been signs that ISIS was preparing something: in May, the militant group’s main media organisation al-Hayat launched Istok, a Russian-language magazine.
This announcement came two days after several commanders of the Caucasus Emirate, an umbrella jihadi organisation based in southern Russia, posted an oath of allegiance to ISIS online. At least four of them, the commanders of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and KBK (Kabarda, Balkaria and Karachay), declared that they represent ‘all Mujahideen of the Caucasus’, and were transferring their ‘allegiance to Caliph Ibrahim ben Awwad ben Ibrahim al Badri al-Qoureishi al Husseini [leader of ISIS] for obedience and subordination.’ The ISIS spokesman duly replied by congratulating ‘the soldiers of Islamic State in the Caucasus. We congratulate them for pledging allegiance to the Caliph. He accepts your allegiance and names Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Qadari [Rustam Asilderov] as governor of the Caucasus.’
While the Emirate had tried (unsuccessfully) to be recognised by Al Qaida for years, the rise of ISIS has exposed the cracks in a fragile organisation. What does this mean for an already weakened Caucasus Emirate?
