Caucasus Emirate

Caucasus Emirate
Имарат Кавказ
Leaders	Dokka Umarov †[1] Aliaskhab Kebekov † Magomed Suleimanov †
Foundation	7 October 2007; 16 years ago (7 October 2007)[2]
Dissolved	August 2016; 7 years ago (August 2016)
Active regions	North Caucasus, West Asia
Ideology	Pan-Islamism[3] Salafist-Takfiri Jihadism[4][5] Separatism[4] Islamic fundamentalism[4] Anti-imperialism[4]
Slogan	«Победа или рай» (transl. "Victory or Heaven")[6]
Notable attacks	Insurgency in Ingushetia Insurgency in the North Caucasus
Size	Fewer than 1,500 (2010 est.)[7]
Allies	Mujahideen in Chechnya Riyad-us Saliheen
Opponents	Russia  Syria  Georgia  Azerbaijan  Armenia
Battles and wars	Second Chechen War Syrian civil war[8]
Flag
Preceded by Caucasian Front Succeeded by IS-CP

The Caucasus Emirate (Chechen: Имарат Кавказ, ИК, romanized: Imarat Kavkaz, IK; Russian: Кавказский эмират, romanized: Kavkazskiy emirat), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus,^[9] was a jihadist organisation active in rebel-held parts of Syria and previously in the North Caucasus region of Russia. Its intention was to expel the Russian presence from the North Caucasus and to establish an independent Islamic emirate in the region.^[10] The Caucasus Emirate also referred to the state that the group sought to establish.^[4][11][12] The creation of Caucasus Emirate was announced on 7 October 2007, by Chechen warlord Dokka Umarov, who became its first self-declared "emir".^[13]

By late 2015, the group no longer had a visible presence in the North Caucasus, as most of its members defected to the local Islamic State affiliate, Vilayat Kavkaz.^[14]