The insurgency in the North Caucasus (Russian: Борьба с терроризмом на Северном Кавказе) was a low-level armed conflict between Russia and militants associated with the Caucasus Emirate and, from June 2015, the Islamic State, in the North Caucasus.[7][14][15][16] It followed the official end of the decade-long Second Chechen War on 16 April 2009.[17] It attracted volunteers from the MENA region, Western Europe, and Central Asia.[18] The Russian legislation considers the Second Chechen War and the insurgency described in this article as the same "counter-terrorist operations on the territory of the North Caucasus region".[19]
While the insurgency was officially declared over on 19 December 2017 when FSB DirectorAlexander Bortnikov announced the final elimination of the insurgent underground in the North Caucasus,[20] counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus have not ended.[19]
^"Islamic State spokesman calls on other factions to 'repent,' urges sectarian war". The Long War Journal. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015. Baghdadi, the "Emir of the Faithful," has "accepted your bayat and has appointed the noble sheikh Abu Muhammad al Qadarī as Wali [or governor] over [the Caucasus]," Adnani says.
^"Six Russian soldiers killed in Chechnya". BBC News. 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2017. Russian troops in Chechnya have faced a low level insurgency for years ... They still face a low-level insurgency in the mainly Muslim region in Russia's volatile North Caucasus area.
^ ab"Russia's North Caucasus Insurgency Widens as ISIS' Foothold Grows". www.worldpoliticsreview.com. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017. Russia's North Caucasus insurgency has gone relatively quiet, but reduced casualty numbers belie a still-worrying situation where long-standing grievances remain.