Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani
Murat Akhmetovich Margoshvili | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 May 1972[1] Duisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union[1] (now Georgia) |
| Allegiance | |
| Battles / wars | First Chechen War Second Chechen War Syrian Civil War[4] |
Murat Akhmetovich Margoshvili,[1] also known by his nom de guerre Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani (taken from the Saudi fighter Abu al-Walid), was the emir of the defunct Junud al-Sham group in Syria.
Personal life
While al Shishani is a Georgian national, he is also a Kist, a Chechen subethnos living mostly in the Pankisi Gorge.[5]
Chechen wars
He served with Abu al-Walid in Chechnya.[6]
He was arrested in 2003 and spent two years in jail in Ingushetia.[7]
Syrian civil war
Al Shishani was sanctioned by the US State Department on 24 September 2014[8] for reportedly building a base for foreign fighters.[9]
Junud al-Sham was mainly active in the Latakia region until 2019 when the group effectively stopped partaking in any active conflicts.[3] Shishani later settled near the Christian village of Al-Yacoubiyah in the Jisr ash-Shughur countryside.
In October 2021 there were clashes in the Turkmen Mountain region between Jundullah, an extremist group in Idlib, and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, close to where Shishani and his family settled. They were forced to leave the area during the clashes. The clashes between Jundullah and HTS were erroneously reported to include Junud al-Sham as well.[10] (Junud al-Sham had previously dissolved in July).[11] That December, a Russian Airforce Sukhoi Su-24 bombed his residence, killing a bodyguard and their child while failing to kill al Shishani.[12]
References
- ^ a b c "Ethnic Kist Murad Margoshvili on the Specially Designated Global Terrorists list". Front News. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ Roggio, Bill (24 September 2014). "State Department adds Chechen, Moroccan-led jihadist groups to terrorist list". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ a b c "Georgia is our homeland – Exclusive interview with Muslim al-Shishani a.k.a Murad Margoshvili". Georgian Journal. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ a b Souleimanov, Emil (2 July 2014). "Split Among North Caucasian Fighters in Syria". The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ Moore, Cerwyn (27 May 2015). "Foreign Bodies: Transnational Activism, the Insurgency in the North Caucasus and "Beyond"" (PDF). Terrorism and Political Violence. 27 (3): 395–415. doi:10.1080/09546553.2015.1032035. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 56451099.
- ^ Paraszczuk, Joanna (4 July 2014). "The Clear Banner: 'Let Him Eat Leaves:' North Caucasians Aligned to Islamic State Slam Caucasus Emirate Emir". Jihadology. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ Paraszczuk, Joanna (8 December 2014). "Germany Reportedly Concerned About Radicalization Of Chechen Diaspora". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ Eckel, Mike (26 September 2014). "Behind Islamic State's Battlefield Gains, Battle-Hardened Chechens". Voice of America News. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ "U.S. imposes financial sanctions on Islamist fighters". Reuters. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ sh, obaida (27 October 2021). "Muslim Shishani Steps Aside as HTS Concludes Security Operations against Jundullah". levant24. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
- ^ "HTS and Muslim al-Shishani: What Happened?". Levant24. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
- ^ "Today #Russia carried out its second ad hominem airstrike in #Idlib since 2015. A Muslim Shishani's guard (& his son) were killed, 3-4 of his children & his wife are wounded. Other casualties are from nearby families". Twitter. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2024.