Chechen warlord claims responsibility for Moscow airport bombing

Doku Umarov, the notorious head of the Chechen extremist group Caucasus Emirate, claimed responsibility for the 24 January suicide bombingat Moscow’s airport that left thirty-six people dead and 180 injured.

In a video statement Umarov, speaking in Russian, said, “The special operation was carried out on my orders and god willing special operations like this will continue to be carried out in Russia.”

He went on to say that, “We can carry out these operations whenever and wherever we want.”

Umarov has claimed responsibility for several dangerous bombings in the past including the March 2010 attacks in the Moscow Metro, which killed thirty-nine people, and the November 2009 bombing of a train that left twenty-six dead.

Caucasus Emirate executes smaller attacks almost on a weekly basis in Russia’s predominately Muslim republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and North Ossetia. But it has been noted that in the past year, their attacks have increased in frequency, complexity, and are targeting civilians in Moscow, despite stepped up pressure against them.

Umarov is one of the few remaining Chechen rebels that are still active. He served as security minister in the Chechen separatist government from 1996 to 1999. He is also a veteran of both Chechen wars for independence against Russia, and eventually proclaimed himself president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, an unrecognized secessionist government.

The separatist movement’s goal is to form an independent Muslim nation in the Caucasus region by forcefully expelling Russian troops.

In the video Umarov explained that Caucuses Emirate is “waging jihad in the Caucasus today to establish the word of Allah” and that there are”hundreds more brothers” willing to sacrifice themselves against Russia’s “racist regime” to achieve their goals.

He concluded by vowing “regular, deeper and more aggressive operations.”