Anzor Astemirov
| Anzor Astemirov | |
|---|---|
Anzor Astemirov in 2006
|
|
| Native name | Анзор Астемиров |
| Nickname(s) | Sayfullah (Seifullah) |
| Born |
3 December 1976 Kremenchuk, Ukrainian SSR |
| Died | 24 March 2010 (aged 33) Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria |
| Allegiance |
Caucasian Front Caucasus Emirate |
| Commands held |
United Vilayat of Kabarda, Balkaria and Karachay Supreme Qadi of the Shariah Court |
| Battles/wars | |
Anzor Astemirov (Russian: Анзор Астемиров, 3 December 1976 – 24 March 2010), also known as Emir Sayfullah (Sword of God), was an Islamist leader of a terrorist group in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus.
For several years, Astemirov headed the local terrorist group Yarmuk Jamaat, eventually becoming the main ideologist of the pan-Islamist militant organization Caucasus Emirate, as well as its wali (governor) of Kabardino-Balkaria. His key position as the Emirate's chief Sharia Islamic law qadi (judge) made him the third in Caucasian insurgent hierarchy, after Dokka Umarov and his military deputy Akhmed Yevloyev. The law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation put him on federal and international wanted lists for murder, terrorist attacks, armed trafficking and several other crimes and offered a reward of 3 million rubles ($117,354) for information that would lead to his capture. He was killed in a gunfight with Russian security forces in March 2010.
Born in Kremenchuk, Soviet Ukraine, Astemirov came from a family of princes whose ancestors once ruled Kabarday. In the early 1990s, he was one of a group of young men sent by the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Kabardino-Balkaria, to study Islamic theology at King Saud University, in Saudi Arabia. Upon his return to Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, he and Musa Mukozhev became deputy directors of the Institute of Islamic Studies (founded by the former KGB officer Ruslan Nakhushev, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2005), and co-founded the Islamic Center, which years later would evolve into the Yarmuk Jamaat. Astemirov, who was fluent in Arabic, also worked as a correspondent for the Arabic-language TV Al Jazeera. According to some sources, he fought in both on the side of Chechen separatist forces. In 2001, Astemirov and Mukozhev were both detained by Russian security forces on suspicion of terrorism, however they were released three months later.
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