The Dagestan War begun when Chechnya-based Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB) militia led by warlords Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab invaded the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan on August 7 1999 in support of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The war ended with the retreat of the IIPB and was one of the triggers for the Second Chechen War.
| Dagestan War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Shamilbasayev.jpg Shamil Basayev in Dagestan | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Russian Federation |
 Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade Islamic Shura of Dagestan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Viktor Kazantsev | Shamil Basayev | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 17,000 | 1,400 to 2,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
279 killed 987 wounded | 500+ | ||||||
Timeline
In August and September of 1999, Shamil Basayev and Arab-born Khattab led two incursions by 1,200 to 2,000 international (albeit mostly Chechen and Dagestani) Islamist militants from Chechnya into the mountainous regions of Russia's Republic of Dagestan, where on August 10 separatist rebels proclaimed independent Islamic Republic of Dagestan with Basayev as their leader.[1]
By August 10 the rebels had seized the villages of Ansalta, Rakhata and Shadroda and reached the village of Tando, close to the district town of Botlikh. [2] However, they never seized the town. As resistance stiffened, not least from a large if undisciplined volunteer militia, Russian artillery and airpower came into its own. While the First Chechen War had shown the limitations of its use, here it was relied on to ensure that the Russians did not lose the war in those early days. The rebels were stalled by the ferocity of the bombardments: their supply lines were cut and scattered with remotely delivered mines. This gave Moscow time to assemble a their counter-attack under Colonel-General Viktor Kazantsev, commander of the North Caucasus Military District.
In a thinly disguised admission of failure, on August 23 the rebels announced they were withdrawing from Botlikh district 'to redeploy' and begin a 'new phase' in their operations.[3] By mid-September 1999 the militants were routed from the villages they had seized and were pushed back into Chechnya.
Aftermath
At least several hundred people were killed in the fighting; the federal side admitted suffering 279 dead and approximately 987 wounded. This conflict saw the first use of aerial-delivered fuel-air explosives (FAE) against populated areas, notably on the village of Tando.
The Russian government followed up with a bombing campaign of southeastern Chechnya, a part of the country they saw as a staging area for the militants. On September 23, Russian fighter jets bombed targets in and around Grozny.
In December 1999, after the Dagestan War and a string of apartment bombings, Russian ground forces invaded Chechnya.