A Chechen militant who has been called "the Kremlin's worst nightmare" and "Russia's Bin Laden" is reportedly dead.
Doku Umarov, a Chechen separatist leader who had encouraged terrorists to attack the Olympic Games in Sochi earlier this year, "became a martyr" according to an insurgency website, NPR and The BBC are reporting. The news comes by way of the Kavkaz Center, a Chechen news agency, which tweeted a breaking news update on Tuesday.
BREAKING NEWS. Caucasus Emirate's Emir Dokku Umarov martyred. No details reported. Obituary in English follows— Kavkaz Center (@newkavkazcenter) March 18, 2014
It should be noted that this is hardly the first time the notorious Umarov has been declared dead -- though some suggest its the source that this time makes the reports more reliable. The BBC reports:
In the past, it has used the line about "becoming a martyr" both for people who were killed and for Islamist militants who died of natural causes, so it is not clear if Doku Umarov died peacefully or if he was killed, says Artyom Liss, head of BBC Russian.
Over the last few years, the Russian authorities have announced his killing several few times.
He has often recorded video statements just days after his alleged killing by the Russian forces, our correspondent says.
Umarov has been fighting against Russian troops in Chechnya since 1994, according to an obituary on the Kavkaz Center's site. "Dokku Umarov gave 20 years of his life to the Jihad," it says. "He enjoyed enormous prestige among Mujahideen all over the world. His opinion was listened to. His word was significant for fighting Muslims."
If the reports are true, the bigger question is what happens next?
Umarov death not huge surprise. Many analysts already suspected it. Real question: Who succeeds him, what happens next in #Caucasus? #Russia— Matthew Kupfer (@Matthew_Kupfer) March 18, 2014