Aliaskhab Kebekov's murder to increase influence of IS in Northern Caucasus

The murder of Aliaskhab Kebekov, the leader of the banned terrorist organization "Imarat Kavkaz", will lead to greater influence of the "Islamic State" in Northern Caucasus. This opinion was expressed by researcher Akhmet Yarlykapov and journalist Orkhan Djemal.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 19, in the Buynaksk village of Gerei-Avlak, power agents blocked a house with suspected militants. According to the updated information, five members of the armed underground were killed during the special operation. The National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) has confirmed the information about the murder of Aliaskhab Kebekov, the leader of the grouping "Imarat Kavkaz" recognized in Russia as terrorist.

According to Akhmet Yarlykapov, the Senior Researcher of the Department of Caucasian Studies of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), one of the key figures of the "Imarat Kavkaz" was killed in the special operation in Dagestan.

The expert predicts "a serious conflict between members of the 'Imarat Kavkaz' and loyal supporters of the IS" in the nearest future.

Orkhan Djemal, a journalist of the Forbes magazine, agrees with the Akhmet Yarlykapov's opinion. He predicts "a split in the ranks of the militants" after the murder of Aliaskhab Kebekov.

Alexei Malashenko, a member of the Research Board of the Moscow Carnegie Centre, still does not trust the information about the Aliaskhab Kebekov's murder. Alexei Malashenko drew attention to the fact that the information about the murder of Dokku Umarov "appeared at least two or three times."

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