Jundallah Shishani killed in Syria was a native of Georgia

The field commander of Syrian militants Jundallah Shishani, whose death in the city of Cobani became known on December 8, originated from the same village in the Georgia's Pankisi Gorge as the commander of the northern sector of the "Islamic State" (IS) Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Omar Shishani.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the death of Jundallah Shishani among other 14 IS members was reported by Amer Khassan, the head of the press centre of the "Dawn of Freedom Regiment", which is supporting the anti-government grouping named "Free Syrian Army". It was reported that Shishani was one of the closest associates of Tarkhan Batirashvili, a native Georgia, also known as Omar Shishani (Omar the Chechen), who was in command, from 2013, of a grouping of IS Islamists in Syria.

According to Umar Idigov, the President of the Integration Fund of Caucasian Nations, in Georgia, Jundallah Shishani was named as Djabrail Tsatiashvili, but after his departure to Syria, he took a new name – Zelimkhan, and later began calling himself Jundallah Shishani.

In Arabic, the word "Shishani" means "a Chechen", and "Jundallah" means "Soldiers of Allah". Thus, Jundallah Shishani is a nickname meaning "a Chechen – a soldier of Allah".

Evgeny Satanovskiy, the President of the Middle East Institute, notes that Jundallah Shishani is a little-known figure. "This is one of the natives of the Caucasus, who was recruited under the call of the IS and who will never return to the Caucasus," he said.

Various sources, including the Russian FSB, have confirmed that militants from Russia are fighting for the "Islamic State", says the document prepared by the "Caucasian Knot": "Caucasians in the ranks of IS (ISIL)".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.