Battle of Tando
During the inter-war period from 1996 to 1999, war-ravaged Chechnya descended into anarchy and economic collapse. Despite their defeat of the Russians in the First Chechen War, Chechnya’s independent Islamic government, under Aslan Maskhadov, was unable to rebuild the region. Warlords gradually took control of segments of the country. Relations between the government and radicals worsened. In March, 1999, Maskhadov closed down the Chechen parliament and introduced aspects of Sharia law. Despite this concession, extremists such as Shamil Basayev and the Saudi-born Islamist Ibn Al-Khattab continued to undermine the Maskhadov Government. In April 1998, Basayev’s and al-Khattab’s “Islamic Legion” declared that its long-term aim was the creation of a union of Chechnya and Dagestan under Islamic rule and the expulsion of Russians from the entire Caucasian Region.
On August 7 Basayev and Khattab launched an invasion into Dagestan with a group of roughly 1,500-2,000 armed militants consisting of Islamic radicals from Chechenya and Dagestan, as well as other international Islamists. They seized villages in the districts of Tsumadi and Botlikh. On August 10, they announced the birth of the "independent Islamic State of Dagestan" and declared war on "the traitorous Dagestani government" and Russia's occupation units. Russian military response to the invasion was slow, efforts were initially fumbling and disorganized. The Russians had just finished one war in this region – they had little stomach for another.
However, spontaneously organized citizen militias and ordinary Dagestani police quickly put up effective resistance against the Islamist invaders. The “Islamic Legion” were not welcomed as “liberators”, as they had expected, but instead were seen as occupiers and religious fanatics. The Chechen-Dagestani border saw a mass uprising of ordinary people volunteering to fight Basayev’s and Khattab’s army.
The Islamists had a fight on their hands – but it was not the fight they expected.
As local resistance to the Islamist invaders stiffened, the full force of the Russian military finally came to bear. Unlike the “old fashioned” tactics used by Russians in the First Chechen War, this time the Russians made immediate use of harsh, new methods, such as fuel-air explosives (FAE) against populated areas. The Islamists were stalled by the ferocity of the bombardments: their supply lines were cut and scattered.
The little village of Tando finds itself in the midst of this harsh conflict.
The local civilian militia felt confident in their ability to expel the Islamists – but now the civilians find themselves indiscriminately targeted by the Russian military, which tends to shoot first and ask questions later…and which seems unable to distinguish between civilian Dagestani militia and Islamist fighters.
For their part, the Islamic Legion fighters seek only to escape with their skins. Their plan for a war of Islamic liberation has been shattered, and their only hope is to withdraw back to Chechnya, to live to fight another day.
For the Russians, tired of fighting in this violent part of their empire, the easiest solution to the whole mess seems to be to shoot or bomb everything in sight, and worry about repercussions later.
During the inter-war period from 1996 to 1999, war-ravaged Chechnya descended into anarchy and economic collapse. Despite their defeat of the Russians in the First Chechen War, Chechnya’s independent Islamic government, under Aslan Maskhadov, was unable to rebuild the region. Warlords gradually took control of segments of the country. Relations between the government and radicals worsened. In March, 1999, Maskhadov closed down the Chechen parliament and introduced aspects of Sharia law. Despite this concession, extremists such as Shamil Basayev and the Saudi-born Islamist Ibn Al-Khattab continued to undermine the Maskhadov Government. In April 1998, Basayev’s and al-Khattab’s “Islamic Legion” declared that its long-term aim was the creation of a union of Chechnya and Dagestan under Islamic rule and the expulsion of Russians from the entire Caucasian Region.
On August 7 Basayev and Khattab launched an invasion into Dagestan with a group of roughly 1,500-2,000 armed militants consisting of Islamic radicals from Chechenya and Dagestan, as well as other international Islamists. They seized villages in the districts of Tsumadi and Botlikh. On August 10, they announced the birth of the "independent Islamic State of Dagestan" and declared war on "the traitorous Dagestani government" and Russia's occupation units. Russian military response to the invasion was slow, efforts were initially fumbling and disorganized. The Russians had just finished one war in this region – they had little stomach for another.
However, spontaneously organized citizen militias and ordinary Dagestani police quickly put up effective resistance against the Islamist invaders. The “Islamic Legion” were not welcomed as “liberators”, as they had expected, but instead were seen as occupiers and religious fanatics. The Chechen-Dagestani border saw a mass uprising of ordinary people volunteering to fight Basayev’s and Khattab’s army.
The Islamists had a fight on their hands – but it was not the fight they expected.
As local resistance to the Islamist invaders stiffened, the full force of the Russian military finally came to bear. Unlike the “old fashioned” tactics used by Russians in the First Chechen War, this time the Russians made immediate use of harsh, new methods, such as fuel-air explosives (FAE) against populated areas. The Islamists were stalled by the ferocity of the bombardments: their supply lines were cut and scattered.
The little village of Tando finds itself in the midst of this harsh conflict.
The local civilian militia felt confident in their ability to expel the Islamists – but now the civilians find themselves indiscriminately targeted by the Russian military, which tends to shoot first and ask questions later…and which seems unable to distinguish between civilian Dagestani militia and Islamist fighters.
For their part, the Islamic Legion fighters seek only to escape with their skins. Their plan for a war of Islamic liberation has been shattered, and their only hope is to withdraw back to Chechnya, to live to fight another day.
For the Russians, tired of fighting in this violent part of their empire, the easiest solution to the whole mess seems to be to shoot or bomb everything in sight, and worry about repercussions later.
