Said Buryatsky

Russian Islamist
Said Buryatsky
Birth nameAlexander Alexandrovitch Tikhomirov
BornFebruary 10, 1982 (1982-02-10)
Ulan-Ude, Buryat ASSR, RSFSR, USSR
DiedMarch 2, 2010 (2010-03-03) (aged 28)
Ekazhevo, Ingushetia, Russia
Allegiance Caucasus Emirate
Commands heldRiyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs
Battles/warsInsurgency in Ingushetia
Insurgency in the North Caucasus

Said Buryatsky (February 10, 1982 – March 2, 2010) was an Islamist militant leader in the Russian North Caucasus. Buryatsky had been among the most-wanted men in Russia, and he was considered an ideologue leader of the Islamist rebels in Chechnya and southern Russia.[1] He was known in the region as a Russian counterpart of Osama bin Laden.[1] Buryatsky had been identified in YouTube videos, wearing camouflage while preaching radical Islam with an assault rifle.[1]

Biography

Buryatsky, whose birth name was Alexander Alexandrovitch Tikhomirov,[2] was born February 10, 1982, in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia. His father was a Buryat, and his mother was a Russian.[3][4] Raised as Buddhist, he reportedly converted to Islam at the age of 15. He studied at a Muslim theological institute in Orenburg, run by one of Russia's official Muslim Spiritual Boards, and then, from 2002-2005, studied in Cairo and Kuwait.[5]

Buryatsky moved to the North Caucasus in late 2007 or early 2008, where he became an important ideologue of the Caucasus Emirate. He criticized Sufi Muslims, critics of the Emirate, and spoke out against the commanders who disagreed with Dokka Umarov.[6]

Buryatsky was reportedly responsible for the reactivation of the Riyadus-Salikhin shahid brigade of suicide bombers originally formed by Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev.[5] He was being investigated for involvement with the 2009 Nevsky Express bombing, leaving 28 dead and 90 wounded; however, he was never brought to trial.[1]

On March 2, 2010, Buryatsky was killed in the village of Ekazhevo in Ingushetia (Russia), during a Russian military operation involving units of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian Interior Ministry.[6] A spokesman said that FSB troops had found a bomb factory inside the same house where the militants had been cornered in Ingushetia.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Russian 'Bin Laden' killed by Moscow's special forces", Andrew Osborn, Moscow, The Telegraph, 7:11 pm, March 7, 2010, webpage: Tel-3272.
  2. ^ Ordinary Anti-cultism, Sergey Ivanenko (Moscow: 2012), p. 91, web: BGoog-kC.
  3. ^ https://www.specnaz.ru/articles/284/18/3616.htm[bare URL]
  4. ^ "Бурятское лицо кавказского терроризма Спецслужбы неожиданно для себя убили идеолога боевиков".
  5. ^ a b "Militant Website Confirms Buryatsky's Death". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 7 March 2010.
  6. ^ a b Mairbek Vatchagaev (2010-03-11). "Killing of Said Buryatsky Unlikely to Deter North Caucasus Insurgency". Jamestown Foundation.
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