Dagestan War

War of Dagestan
Part of the Chechen–Russian conflict
Russian federal Spetsnaz forces in Dagestan.
Date 2 August 1999 – 14 September 1999 Location Dagestan, Russia Result Russian victory The militants seized 12 mountain villages in the districts of Tsumadi and Botlikh The federal side regained control over all villages and pushed the militants back to Chechen territory Beginning of the Second Chechen War
Belligerents
Islamic Djamaat of Dagestan Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan Islamic International Brigade Special Purpose Islamic Regiment Islamic religious police	Russia Russian Armed Forces Ground Forces Air Force Navy VDV MVD Internal Troops Militsiya OMON GRU Dagestan
Commanders and leaders
Shamil Basayev Ibn al-Khattab	Viktor Kazantsev Said Amirov
Strength
~2,000–10,000 militants	17,000 soldiers, thousands of policemen and volunteers
Casualties and losses
~1,500–2,000 militants killed (Russian claim)	275 servicemen killed, 15 missing and 937 wounded (Russian claim)

Russian victory

Islamic Djamaat of Dagestan

Russia

The War of Dagestan began when the Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade (IIB), an Islamist group, led by warlords Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab, invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan, on 7 August 1999, in support of the Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The war ended with a major Russian victory and the retreat of the IIB. The Invasion of Dagestan was the casus belli for the Second Chechen War.

During the inter-war period of 1996 to 1999, a war-ravaged Chechnya descended into chaos and economic collapse. Aslan Maskhadov's government was unable to rebuild the region or to prevent a number of warlords from taking effective control. The relationship between the government and radicals deteriorated. In March 1999, Maskhadov closed down the Chechen parliament and introduced aspects of Sharia law. Despite this concession, extremists such as Shamil Basayev and the Saudi-born Islamist Ibn Al-Khattab continued to undermine the Maskhadov government. In April 1998, the group publicly declared that its long-term aim was the creation of a union of Chechnya and Dagestan under Islamic rule and the expulsion of Russians from the entire Caucasian Region.

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