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]
^Cite error: The named reference umarovdeath was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Al-Rasheed, Madawi; Kersten, Carool; Shterin, Marat (2012). Demystifying the Caliphate: Historical Memory and Contemporary Contexts. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 255. ISBN978-0-19-932795-9.
^Hahn, Gordon M. (2011). Getting the Caucasus Emirate Right: A Report of the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2011. p. 8. ISBN978-0-89206-665-0.