AfPak Mujahideen veterans in Chechnya called freedom fighters by America

In August 1999, Afghan, Pakistani and Arab militants, trained in training camps set up by militant organisations of various hues and persuasions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, are understood to have participated along with Chechen commander Shamil Basayev and Jordanian fighter Khattab when they stormed some areas of Daghestan in Russia. This led to the second military intervention by Russia in Chechnya. These Islamic militants saw themselves as "warriors of Allah" performing their divine duty to carry out the will of God. Ultimately, the Russian forces threw them out from Daghestan and their actions were more akin to those of Islamic terrorists rather than the 'liberators' of Daghestan. Some of these elements, after returning from Chechnya participated in a campaign led by the Farghana-based Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to capture more than 20 villages in Kyrgyzstan. Thus, such Islamic groups are exploiting the weak political and law and order situation in the regions of North Caucasus and Central Asian countries.

• North Ossetia Beslan school massacre - 2004
• CIA and Freedom Fighters In Caucasus

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Bringing Peace to Chechnya? Assessments and Implications | CRS Report - Feb. 11, 2005 |

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