Magomed Suleimanov

Magomed Aliyevich Suleimanov (Russian: Мухаммад Алиевич Сулейманов), also known as Abu Usman Gimrinsky (Russian: Абу Усман Гимринский), was a Dagestani Islamist in Russia and the third leader of the Caucasus Emirate militant group.

An ethnic Avar from the Dagestani village of Gimry, Suleimanov studied at the Fatah al-Islami University in Damascus in 1992. In 2005, he returned to Dagestan and became the Qadi (judge) of the central mosque in Gimry. In 2006, Suleimanov joined Dagestan's armed insurgency, however in 2008 he surrendered to authorities and received an amnesty.

In 2009, Suleimanov rejoined the insurgency, where he would serve as both the Qadi of the Caucasus Emirate's Vilayat Dagestan branch, and the military commander of Vilayat Dagestan's Mountain Sector, which included his home village of Gimry.

In 2014, Rustam Asildarov and a number of other senior Caucasus Emirate commanders announced their defection to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), swearing an oath of allegiance to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Both Suleimanov and Caucasus Emirate leader Aliaskhab Kebekov condemned this as a betrayal.

Following the killing of Aliaskhab Kebekov by Russian security forces in April 2015, Suleymanov was chosen as the new leader of the Caucasus Emirate, however he was not formally announced until 2 July 2015.

Death

Suleimanov was killed in a raid by Russian security forces in a special operation in Dagestan's Untsukul district on 11 August 2015.

Vilayat Dagestan named three militants who died during the clashes:

• Caucasus Emirate's emir Abu Usman (Magomed Suleimanov)
• Vilayat Dagestan's emir Said Abu Muhammad (Kamil Saidov)
• Abdulla Abdullayev (Naib Abdulla)