Showdown in Dagestan - World at War

Most challenging to play: Islamic Militia [Japanese] against Russia [Allies]. Conditions: Normal. Size: Medium.

Background: September 12, 1999. Karamakhi, Dagestan.

The Dagestan War began when the Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade (IIB) and the Islamist militia led by warlords Shamil Basayev and Ibn al-Khattab invaded the neighbouring Russian republic of Dagestan, on August 7, 1999.

Days after he was appointed, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin predicted the insurgents would be driven out of Dagestan in two weeks. Russian troops relied mainly on air power and heavy artillery against suspected insurgent positions in the sparsely populated Dagestani mountains. Despite a relentless bombardment, the rebels initially yielded little ground.

By late August, however, Russia claimed to have regained control of most mountain villages seized by Islamic separatists.

Some pockets of resistance remained, including the village of Karamakhi, which was known as a stronghold of the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect of Islam.

On August 29 units of the Russian Armed Forces, Interior Troops and task forces of the Dagestani police and other law enforcement bodies launched an offensive against the rebels in Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi in Buinaksk district of Dagestan.

The operation against the insurgent villages, initially planned as a police action, soon developed into full-scale hostilities. It was not until September 12 that the area was cleared of rebels, even though sporadic armed clashes continued for some time afterwards.

The use of T-90S tanks in Dagestan deserves mention. A group of these vehicles consisting of 8 to 12 units was supposed to be delivered to India. Following a sharp aggravation of the situation in the Caucasus, however, the tanks were transferred to Dagestan. In the Kadari zone one T-90 was hit by seven RPG anti-tank rockets but remained in action. This action, the first for the T-90, reinforced Russia's belief that the T-90 was one of the world's best protected tanks.