Experts: appointment of Dagestani as leader of "Imarat Kavkaz" means changes in underground

Move of the leaders of the "Imarat Kavkaz" to Dagestan and appointment of Aliaskhab Kebekov a successor of Doku Umarov proves the deepening split in the ranks of militants. This was stated by Musa Muradov, a correspondent of the publishing house "Kommersant".

Musa Muradov agrees with the thesis that the "Imarat Kavkaz" "fizzles out." "The structure is localized to Dagestan, and there are no serious divisions in Northern Caucasus," the expert states.

In his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Professor Mikhail Roschin, Senior Researcher of the Centre for Central Asia, Caucasus, Ural and Volga Regions of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), has also noted that a number of facts indicates the decline of the "Imarat Kavkaz". According to Mikhail Roschin, the armed underground in Caucasus faces time of organizational and ideological restructuring.

Meanwhile, Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the head of the International Crisis Group in Russia, considers it is too early to talk about reduction in the underground activity. "I have no reasons to believe that a change of the leader will weaken the underground. Yes, we have seen a break during the Olympics. However, remember the events that occurred on the eve of the Olympic Games: three explosions in Volgograd, attacks in Stavropol, and regular threats to blow up the Olympics," Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya claims.