Senior Chechnya Al-Qaida Member Killed in Dagestan

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Senior Chechnya Al-Qaida Member Killed in Dagestan

James Joyner | Saturday, December 3, 2005

Another one bites the dust: Evan Kohlmann reports that the Russians have killed the “Imam of the Chechen mujahideen.”

According to various reports from credible mujahideen sources, Abu Omar Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Saif (a.k.a. Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Saif al-Jaber)–a top tier Saudi Arabian Al-Qaida commander in Chechnya and personal military advisor to Shamil Basayev–has been killed during a Russian counterterrorism operation in neighboring Dagestan. Unable to escape after Russian soldiers backed by helicopters surrounded his temporary hideout, Abu Omar allegedly detonated an explosive device he was carrying and collapsed the building on top of himself. Known as the “Imam of the Chechen mujahideen”, Abu Omar was an original founder of the Arab-Afghan mujahideen movement in Chechnya and was named by Russian officials as a suspect in numerous Caucasus-linked terrorist attacks, including the Moscow theatre siege and the Beslan school hostage massacre.

Granting that al Qaeda has more “senior leaders” than you can shake a stick at and that they seem to grow new ones without much difficulty, killing them is good on general principles.

Kohlmann has substantial background information on Abu Omar at the link.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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