Your trusted source

After Omar al-Shishani (Tarkhan Batirashvili), ISIS’s military commander, was reportedly killed in a US airstrike in Northern Syria last week, an Azerbaijani is the main candidate for his position, according to Al Arabiya.

Sources within the group refer to an increasing role of Azerbaijani commanders following a reshuffle of ethnic alliances in the multinational Iraqi-led ISIS during the past few months. Two Azerbaijani commanders in particular are believed to be taking leading military and intelligence roles within ISIS in Syria. The military commander, according to the sources speaking to Al Arabiya English, is an Iraq veteran, known by Azerbaijani ISIS members as Jundullah (pronounced Cundullah in Azerbaijani).

“Fighters from Dagestan fell out with Chechens over the latter’s aggressive leadership,” Aktham Alwani, a journalist who until recently lived in Raqqa, said as cited by Al Arabiya. Rumours over Chechen “traitors” working for Russia surfaced as ISIS’s forces lost ground and Moscow’s airstrikes on Syria intensified, Alwani stated, citing his contacts within the organisation. “Azerbaijani ‘emirs’ rose in military ranks, as Jundullah’s influence rose within the group,” he said.

Obada Koujan, a media activist, says the Azerbaijanis “built a reputation as fierce fighters” in Syria, even more so than the Chechens and Uzbeks. In Raqqa, a number of Azerbaijanis have been accused of “gholow,” which is excess or overindulgence, and have been executed, Alwani says. Raqqa locals were reportedly angered in April last year after the Azerbaijani Imam of Usama Ben Zayd’s mosque in Raqqa called for the circumcision of Syrian women in the city, claiming they were too seductive for foreign fighters. He was found dead days later, Al Arabiya reports.

Meanwhile, Oxu.az reports about a new video showing Azerbaijani terrorists fighting in Syria. The Azerbaijani fighters, members of the ISIS, are demonstrating their preparation for a new operation. An Azerbaijani nicknamed Hamza especially stands out in the video, which also shows Turkish citizens.

The Azerbaijani terrorists have long been fighting in the ranks of various terrorist groups in Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Azerbaijani media reported about the death of about 200 Azerbaijani terrorists Syria alone over the past three years. There have also been frequent media reports about Azerbaijani terrorist commanders’ liquidation.

The relationship between international terrorist groups and Azerbaijan originates in the early 1990s. Back then, the Azerbaijani army, having failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation, the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev attracted to the war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists and members of radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar), Turkey ("Grey Wolves", etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev and Raduyev etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement of thousands of foreign mercenaries and terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani aggression against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia. However, international terrorists established ties in Azerbaijan, and used them in the future. Azerbaijanis were recruited and sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where they participated in the battles against the forces of the international coalition and Russian organizations. Over the recent years, citizens of Azerbaijan have been actively engaged in terrorism and extremist activities in Russia, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.