Ajnad al-Kavkaz

Ajnad al-Kavkaz
Participant in Syrian Civil War
Flag of Ajnad al-Kavkaz.
Active	2015–present
Ideology	Sunni Islamic fundamentalism Jihadism Anti-Russian North Caucasus separatism
Leaders	Abdul Hakim Shishani(overall emir) Khamza Shishani(military emir) Abu Bakr Shishani(commander, 2016–17)
Area of operations	Syria
Size	2014: 80+ (Jamaat al-Khilafa al-Qawqazia); 32 (Jamaat Jund al-Qawqaz) 2016: 100+
Part of	Army of Conquest(formerly)
Originated as	Jamaat al-Khilafa al-Qawqazia Jamaat Jund al-Qawqaz
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War 2015 Idlib offensive Second Battle of Idlib Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015) 2015–16 Latakia offensive 2016 Latakia offensive 2016 Hama offensive 2017 Hama offensive

Syrian Civil War

Ajnad al-Kavkaz (transl. "Soldiers of the Caucasus"; short: AK) is a Chechen-ledJihadi Islamic fundamentalist rebel group active in northern Syria, primarily in the mountainous, forested areas of northern Latakia Governorate. Although formed by former Caucasus Emirate fighters and tentatively linked to the organization, Ajnad al-Kavkaz operated fully autonomous from the beginning and later cut its links with the Caucasus Emirate. By September 2016, Ajnad al-Kavkaz had become "the largest of the Muslim factions from the former Soviet Union fighting in Syria."

In course of the Second Chechen War's last phase around 2009, numerous Caucasus Emirate fighters temporarily moved to Turkey, often for medical treatment, but were thereafter unable to return to Russia to continue their insurgency. Thus stranded, the militants settled down in Turkey and Syria in involuntary exile, though continued to plan their eventual return to their homelands in North Caucasus. Their situation changed dramatically, however, when the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011, as the Chechen militants picked up their weapons again, formed many militias and joined local Syrian Islamists in their rebellion against Bashar al-Assad's government.

The two small militias which later founded Ajnad al-Kavkaz were initially active in the Latakia and Quneitra Governorates: The first one was Jamaat al-Khilafa al-Qawqazia ("The Caucasian Caliphate Group"), which had been founded in 2013 and was led by Abdul Hakim Shishani. Abdul Hakim had been commander of the central sector of the Caucasus Emirate's Vilayat Nokhchicho in 2007–09, and his unit consisted of veterans of the Second Chechen War. The second one was Jamaat Jund al-Qawqaz ("Group of Soldiers of the Caucasus"), a small militia of Islamist Circassians from the Golan Heights and Jordan, which soon pledged allegiance (Bay'ah) to Abdul Hakim. Both were initially members of Ansar al-Sham, and were loosely affiliated with the Caucasus Emirate.