Chechen suicide attacks

Between June 2000 and September 2004 Chechen insurgents added suicide bombings to their weaponry. During this period there have been more than two dozen Chechen-related suicide attacks in and oustide Chechnya, and the profiles of the suicide bombers have varied just as much as the circumstances surrounding the bombings.

Overview

Chechen related suicide attacks did not begin until 2000. Through five years of conflict (the First Chechen War and the first year of the second war), there were no Chechen related suicide bombings. The attacks stopped with the change of the Chechen separatist tactics in the aftermath of the Beslan school hostage crisis.

Although the most publicized of Chechen suicide attacks took place in Moscow, Russia's suicide attacks have occurred predominantly in Chechnya (14 out of 23), while four additional attacks took place in neighbouring North Caucasus regions. The majority of suicide bombings, directed at military installations and government compounds in and around Chechnya, have been directed at those whom the separatists consider combatants.

Females comprised a clear majority of Chechnya's suicide bombers. These bombers are referred to as "Shahidkas" by Chechens or "Black Widows" by Russians and have usually lost family members in the war. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4436368.stm BBC NEWS | Middle East | Women bombers break new ground] ] This is in contrast to suicide bomb campaigns in Israel and Iraq, where females make up only a very small minority of attackers. There is no evidence of foreign involvement in either the planning or execution of Chechen suicide attacks. In contrast to Palestinian suicide bombers whose families sometime receive large rewards from sponsors, there is no evidence of financial rewards being given to Chechen suicide bombers. Nevertheless, Arab mujahideen were believed to be behind the hard-line tactics in the North Caucasus.

The highest concentrations of suicide attacks were in the summer of 2000, when Chechen suicide bombers used trucks filled with explosives to attack military targets in Chechnya (the majority of the bombers in this time period were males), and in the years of 2003-2004, when a much publicized wave of suicide bombings for the first time swept out of Chechnya and into Moscow, repeatedly attacking civilian targets.

Attacks against Russian government targets

;June 2000 Chechnya suicide bombings: On June 6 and June 11, 2000, Chechnya experienced its first suicide bombings when two teenage girls (Khava Barayeva and Luiza Magomadova) and a former Russian prisoner of war Sergey Dimitriyev attacked Russian paramilitary police with two car bombs, killing at least four OMON troops.

;July 2000 Chechnya suicide bombings: On July 2-July 3 2000, Chechen guerrillas launched five suicide bomb attacks into Russian military and police headquarters and barracks within 24 hours, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than 100.

;Gaidar Gadzhiyev assassination: On November 29 2001, a young Chechen woman, Ayza Gazuyeva, blew up herself with a grenade, killing a Russian General Gaidar Gadzhiyev, whom she blamed on the death of her detained husband, and his bodyguards.

;2002 Grozny suicide bombing: On December 27, 2002, Chechen suicide bombers (reportedly a family) ran vehicles into the heavily guarded republic's government headquarters in Grozny, destroying the four-story building. Chechen officials said 72 people were killed and 210 wounded, and Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for a planning and execution of the attack.

;2003 Znamenskoye suicide bombing: On May 12, 2003, three suicide bombers (a man and two women) drove a truck full of explosives into a government complex including regional republican FSB headquarters in Znamenskoye, in northern Chechnya; at least 59 people were killed and about 200 injured, including a large number of civilians.

;2003 Iliskhan-Yurt suicide bombings: On May 14, 2003, the pro-Russian President Akhmad Kadyrov is attacked by a pair of female suicide bombers at a religious festival in Iliskhan-Yurt, who are however stopped by his bodyguards; 16 die in the blasts. He is also attacked by another young "shahidka", Mariam Tashukhadzhiyeva, in Grozny few weeks later.

;June 2003 Mozdok suicide bombing: On June 5, 2003, a female suicide bomber blew up a bus carrying Russian Air Force pilots in North Ossetia, killing herself and 19 other people and injuring 14.

;August 2003 Mozdok suicide bombing: On August 1, 2003, a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives blew up a military hospital in the town of Mozdok in North Ossetia, bordering Chechnya. The blast killed 50.

;2003 Magas suicide bombings: On September 15, 2003, two bombers detonated a truck bomb outside the FSB headquarters in Magas, Ingushetia. Three people were killed and 29 were injured. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/09/mil-030916-rferl-075641.htm Russia: Two Suicide Bombers Carried Out Ingushetia Attack ] ] [ [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/15/russia.blast/ CNN.com - Bomb kills 2, wounds 29 in Russia - Sep. 15, 2003 ] ]

Failed attacks

*December 2001 - A suicide truck bomb driven by a 16-year-old Chechen girl was stopped by gunfire, as it smashed through checkpoints and blockposts on its way to a MVD building in Grozny. She was wounded but survived the attack. [ [http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/10/29/Chechenwomen.shtml Gazeta.Ru - Chechen women to drive killer trucks] ]

*February 5, 2002 - 16-year-old Zarema Inarkayeva's boyfriend detonated a small bomb she was holding in a bag inside of the building of Zavodsky district police station in Grozny. Fortunately for Zarema, who was forced into the operation, the bomb did not detonate as expected and there were no casualties.

*June 20, 2003 - A truck bomb attack on a Grozny government building fails when the truck explodes prematurely, injuring 36 people. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3007100.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Blast hits Chechen capital ] ] [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/06/mil-030620-voa05.htm VOANews.com - 2 Killed in Grozny Suicide Truck Bombing ] ]

*April 7, 2004 - Ingushetia's President Murat Zyazikov, a former KGB general, was lightly injured by a suicide car bomb attack on his motorcade; he was saved by the armour plating of his Mercedes-Benz car.

Attacks against Russian civilian targets

;2003 Tushino airfield bombing: July 5 2003 - Zulichan Elichadzjiyeva (19) blew herself up outside a rock festival at the Tushino airfield near Moscow; her bomb did not detonate as expected. 15 minutes later, only a few meters from where Zulichan blew herself up, Zinaida Aliyeva (26) detonated her explosives and killed 11 people on the spot; four more died in hospital. At least 60 people were injured. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/05/russia.blast/ CNN.com - Two Moscow concert bombers kill 14] ]

;2003 Stavropol train bombing and 2003 Red Square bombing: December 5-10, 2003 - A shrapnel-filled bomb believed strapped to a lone male suicide attacker ripped apart a commuter train near Chechnya, killing 46 people and wounding nearly 200. The explosion occurred during a busy morning rush hour when the train was loaded with many students and workers; it ripped the side of the train open as it approached a station near Yessentuki, 750 miles south of Moscow. Only five days later another blast shook Russia -- this time the attack occurred in the very centre of Moscow a female suicide bomber set off explosives near the Kremlin and State Duma; the bomber used suicide belts packed with ball bearings to kill six people and injure another 44. Shamil Basayev later claimed responsibility for organising the December 2003 attacks.

;February 2004 Moscow metro bombing: February 6 2004 - A bomb ripped throughmetro car during rush hour morning near Avtozavodskaya subway station in Moscow, killing 40 people and wounding 134. A previously unknown Chechen terrorist group claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it launched the attack to mark the fourth anniversary of the Novye Aldi massacre.

;Russian aircraft bombings of August 2004: August 27 2004 - Two Russian airliners crashed nearly simultaneously on August 24, killing 90 people. Investigation found traces of explosives in planes' wreckages, and an Islamic terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a Web statement. Two Chechen women Amanta Nagayeva (30) and Satsita Dzhebirkhanova (37), from Grozny have been identified as the perpetrators of the attack.

;August 2004 Moscow metro bombing: August 31, 2004 - Militant Nikolai Kipkeyev and 10 other people killed when an unidentified female suicide bomber panicked and detonated the explosives before entering the station the Rizhskaya metro station in Moscow.

uicide belt usage during Russian hostage crises

;Moscow theater hostage crisis: October 23-26 2002 - Numerous female militants, wearing Middle-Eastern-style burqa attire and led by Zura Barayeva, claimed to wear explosive belts. On the third day of the crisis the theater was raided by the Russian special forces and all male and female militants shot to death by close range, many after being subdued. None of the explosive devices were detonated during the Russian assault and the belts were later said to be fake. [ [http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=3538&pubType=HI_Opeds Hudson Institute - Slaughter in Beslan] ] ;Beslan school hostage crisis: September 1-3 2004 - Two or three female suicide bombers, two of whom were killed by a mysterious explosion on the first day of the crisis, which also killed one other militant and several of the adult male hostages.

References

External links

* [http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/05/chechnya.timeline/ Timeline: Bombs linked to Chechnya] , CNN, December 5 2003
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3020231.stm Russia's suicide bomb nightmare] , BBC News, February 6 2004
* [http://servizi.radicalparty.org/documents/index.php?func=detail&par=3573 Chechnya’s Suicide Bombers: Desperate, Devout, or Deceived?] , American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, 16/09/2004
* [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-09/10/content_373509_2.htm From dismal Chechnya, women turn to bombs] , "China Daily", 2004-09-10
* [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/10/acdd90e6-ac42-43ea-8a51-0bafc6a215fb.html Russia: Nord-Ost Anniversary Recalls Ascent Of Female Suicide Bomber] , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, October 27, 2006

ee also

* Riyadus Salihiin
* Second Chechen War crimes and terrorism
Chechen wars