Chechen police treat a call posted on WhatsApp to go to Myanmar as provocation

The author of one of the appeals to residents of Northern Caucasus to go to Myanmar is outside Chechnya, the republic’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported. The WhatsApp user with the nickname lord95, which is almost identical to Magomed Daudov’s nickname in the Instagram, has announced his readiness to pay for air tickets of those who wish to go to Myanmar.

On September 6, many WhatsApp users in Chechnya received a message from an unnamed source urging residents of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan to come to Gudermes on September 10 in order to "define the date for departure to Myanmar for jihad." This information has provoked public resonance, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

"Not everyone believes this; but some really are going to become volunteers," said Aslambek, a resident of Grozny.

The head of a local NGO has treated the rumours about the recruitment of volunteers as "fantastic," and suggested that the authorities of Chechnya had caused "unhealthy excitement" around the situation in Myanmar by having organized a large-scale rally in Grozny.

The messages posted on the WhatsApp were checked, said the MIA spokesman, adding that calls for "jihad in Myanmar are unacceptable."

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