Muslims Under Siege in Chechnya

By Suleman Ahmer

The night of April 26 was dark and cold, and as our van inched forward the Caucasus mountains loomed ahead as a huddled mass on the horizon. There was a tense, uneasy silence in the vehicle; all five of us knew that war was indiscriminate. A wayward shell or missile would not spare our humanitarian mission.

Suddenly, the sky lit up with flashes. A more relaxed mind could easily have counted several dozen such bursts. These were the dreaded Grad missiles, the deadliest in the Russian army's arsenal, pounding Chechen villages in the mountains. As the vehicle's interior lit up, I caught a glimpse of the rage in my Chechen companion's face as he said, "The Russians are blowing away our children—our future—in front of our eyes. We will never forgive them. Never!"

Our relief was indescribable when we finally met Muslim patrols proudly displaying green headbands bearing Qur'anic verses. "Relax," said another of the passengers, "we are in Muslim-controlled territory now." I was overwhelmed with emotion; thanks to Allah, weeks of effort were finally bearing fruit. At last I had arrived in one of the last great fortresses of Islam in the Caucasus: Chechnya.

A History of Resistance

The Republic of Chechnya, with its population of 1.2 million Muslims, is located in the eastern part of the northern Caucasus mountains. Chechens are one of several independent tribal peoples whose languages belong to the Nakh group and who inhabit the Caucasian region traditionally known as Daghestan.

Chechen-Russian conflict is nothing new. In the 1830s, Czar Nicholas ordered his generals to invade the Caucasus, but the Russian armies met with fierce resistance from Chechen and Daghestani forces united under the leadership of Imam Shamyl, a brilliant military tactician and Muslim religious leader. After waging a hard-fought guerrilla war, Shamyl, known to his Russian foes as "the Lion of Daghestan" because of his courage, finally was forced to concede defeat in 1859 and the Chechens came under rule from Moscow.

With the demise of Czarist Russia in 1917, Daghestanis declared their independence, which lasted until the Bolsheviks reoccupied the region in 1925. Daghestan and its inhabitants subsequently were divided into several administrative units, including the Chechen Autonomous Oblast (administrative region) and later the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the closing days of World War II, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the deportation of thousands of Chechens to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The arduous forced journey decimated the Chechen population. In 1965, the surviving Chechens were allowed to return to their mountainous homeland.

In October 1991, as the Soviet Union was collapsing and its various constituent republics proclaimed their independence from Moscow, Chechnya again declared its independence. The Chechen independence bid was led by President Dzhokar Dudayev, a former Red Air Force general who, as a young boy, was one of the Chechens deported to Kazakhstan.

The Kremlin refused to recognize Chechen independence, however, and sent troops to try again to claim the region for Russia. After months of sporadic fighting, the battle for Chechnya began in earnest in December 1994 with the dispatch of a well-equipped, 40,000-man Russian army. Just before the new year, Russian troops launched their first major assault on the Chechen capital of Grozny and the war in Chechnya became world news.

Humanitarian Concerns

Our trip was part of the efforts of an American-Muslim humanitarian organization, the Benevolence International Foundation, to bring relief to the region. After months of paperwork and administrative arrangements with the concerned authorities, we set off. Our itinerary took us through Azerbaijan, parts of Russia and into the northern mountain districts of Chechnya.

Ever since the New Year's assault by Russian troops on Grozny, Moscow had pursued the goal of a comprehensive defeat of the Chechen forces. As a result, civilian centers were being targeted and humanitarian assistance was denied to areas held by the Muslims. Half of Chechnya is mountainous and still was in Chechen hands, while the plains were under Russian control.

In the tradition of Imam Shamyl, the Chechen resistance has brought together many different elements in the common battle against the Russians. An "Islamic battalion" draws its strength from rural youths, while other Chechen squads include veterans who fought alongside Abkhazian Muslims against the Georgians or with Azerbaijanis against Armenians. It was ironic yet moving to find Chechens who had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan now standing side by side with Chechens who once battled the mujahideen as Russian soldiers!

Tears of happiness came to my eyes as I spent time with these men. I understood the true strength and greatness of Islam as I spoke with Sultan, a former Soviet soldier who spent a year in Faizabad, Afghanistan fighting the mujahideen. He said he had returned to wage a jihad against the Russians in Chechnya with the hope that he would be forgiven for his previous actions in Afghanistan.

Aside from the deep commitment to Islam, I also was struck by the pride and fearlessness that permeates the whole society, which has seen more than its share of conflict and hardship. "War is a frequent visitor to our land," remarked a young Chechen. "It doesn't bother us any more. We have fought ghazwas [a term for warfare] for centuries."

The memories of Stalin's mass deportation of the Chechen nation are still fresh. I was told how a third of the Chechens perished in that ordeal. Many died of suffocation and hunger in the overcrowded trains. The first to succumb were young mothers and brides who sacrificed their food for their children or in-laws. The Soviets would not allow the dead to be buried. Rather, the bodies were piled on railway platforms as the trains stopped for a few minutes on the way to the frozen steppes.

Given the soldiers' deep attachment to Islam, the spirit of jihad is tangible in Chechnya. I commonly heard men tell me that angels had come down to fight alongside them, and many Chechen units report that 100 percent of their soldiers perform the five daily prayers. In some areas under Muslim control shariah (Islamic law) has been declared and Islamic courts established. "The Islamic laws in our land are a guarantee of Allah's help," said Abdul Kareem, a young Chechen. "Our defeat would mean the abolishment of such laws. See, the odds are against the Russians now," he continued. "We have Allah on our side."

"This Is the Place to Be!"

A number of Russian soldiers have been captured in the fighting, and have been well treated. Hundreds have been released unconditionally, while others have accepted Islam and joined the ranks of the Muslims. Abdullah, a 17-year-old former Russian soldier, was learning how to pray when I met him. He was anxious to go to the front again, but this time as a mujahid. In a message to Muslims, a Chechen commander declared, "Tell our friends in the world that this is the place to be. Allah has opened the doors of paradise in Chechnya these days!"

The Russian army is in control of the plains and has encircled Chechen villages in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains. Vast numbers of refugees have been driven far into the rugged hills. Since most of the casualties are the result of indiscriminate shelling and carpet-bombing of civilian areas, Muslim forces have strategically retreated in some places to avoid the loss of non-combatants' lives. The deadliest threat comes from the Grad missiles, fired from multiple rocket launchers mounted on trucks. A series of 40 missiles fired in a barrage can completely destroy an area close to a third of a square kilometer.

Chemical weapons are being used by Russian troops, as are special types of bullets forbidden by the United Nations. These rounds have a diagonal torque; on striking their target, they spin laterally on their axis, extensively damaging tissue and bone. Another lethal menace are the "frog mines" which are scattered from the air over civilian areas. Green in color, the mines are perfectly camouflaged and have resulted in many casualties.

The resources available to treat such casualties are stretched to their limits. Four district hospitals are operating, including one which I visited in the town of Vedeno. The hospitals, however, are in desperate need of medicines and supplies. Ambulances and four-wheel-drive vehicles are required to transport the injured to clinics and to move civilians to safer ground. Canned food is in short supply, while financial assistance is needed to ensure regular salaries for hospital staff who have not been paid for four months. Orphans need to be supported to relieve the burden on the local population and to raise the morale of both soldiers and civilians.

The Muslims of Chechnya have been standing up bravely against brutal aggression for the past six months. It is our duty to assist them and help alleviate their suffering. At press time an uneasy cease-fire—the product of the Chechen commando raid on the southern Russian city of Budennovsk and negotiations with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin—was holding and Russian and Chechen officials were holding talks. Yet there are no signs that Russian forces will withdraw or recognize Chechnya's independent status, and Moscow's onslaught and even more civilian suffering could resume at a moment's notice.

For centuries the Chechens have kept the light of Islam glowing in the heart of the Caucasus. Today they should not have to tend the light alone.

For more information on relief efforts in the region, readers should contact the Benevolence International Foundation at P.O. Box 548, Worth, IL 60482, Tel. (708) 233-0062, e-mail 73174.1073@compuserve.com

Suleman Ahmer recently returned from Chechnya.