Khashiev, Magomed Khamitovich

Magomed Khashiev was born in the Ingush village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya (formerly Sleptsovskaya) in 1977 ^{[1] [3]} . During the First and Second Chechen War, he fought on the side of the Chechen separatists, being part of the unit of the Arab mercenary Abu al-Walid ^{[3] [4]} . During the First Chechen campaign, Magomed Khashiev participated in organizing the defense of the Katayama Grozny region; his gang group terrorized the Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya and the Sunzhensky district of Ingushetia, shooting columns of federal troops and committing contract killings ^[5] . Khashiev was trained in one of the camps of the field commander Khattab , located in the vicinity of the Chechen village of Serzhen-Yurt ^[6] .

Together with Rustam Ganiev and Abubakar Visimbaev, Khashiev was part of a special brigade that, on behalf of Shamil Basayev, was engaged in the recruitment of suicide bombers . The "martyrs" prepared by Magomed Khashiev took part in the capture of the Theater Center on Dubrovka , and also blew themselves up in Moscow and Mozdok ^[7] . Other terrorist attacks involving Khashiev included the explosion of a military hospital in Mozdok on August 1, 2003, the bombing of the Ingushetia UFSB building in Magas and the Nazran-Moscow train in September-October of the same year, as well as the assassination of President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov in April 2004 ^{[6] [8] [9] [10]} .

In 2003, at a gathering of leaders of Chechen separatists, which was attended by Aslan Maskhadov and Basayev, Magomed Khashiyev was appointed head of the Caliphate jamaat recreated in the Nazran region of Ingushetia, becoming the confidant of the Arab mercenary Abu Dzeyt - the main curator of Al-Qaeda in republic ^{[1] [11]} . In addition, Khashiev received the title of “Emir of the militants of the Sunzhensky district” ^[4] . However, Khashiev did not enjoy the respect of the members of his gang: the detained militants accused him of arrogance, embezzlement of financial resources of the gang, as well as sexual relations with the emissary of al-Qaeda Abu Dzeyt ^{[6] [10] [12]} .

According to operational data, during movements in Chechnya and Ingushetia, Khashiev constantly wore a “ martyr ’s belt ” ^{[6] [9]} .

Magomed Khashiev was one of the organizers and a direct participant in the militant raid on Ingushetia on the night of June 21-22, 2004 ^{[2] [8] [13] [14]} . On the night of the attack, Khashiev and his gang members, dressed in camouflage uniforms and wearing masks, advanced in four cars to the 137th border detachment in the center of Nazran and then fired at the building where the border guards were stationed with automatic weapons and grenade launchers ^{[1] [3]} .

According to the investigation, Magomed Khashiev also took part in the planning and organization of the seizure of school No. 1 in Beslan on September 1, 2004 ^{[5] [15] [16]} . In mid-August 2004, Khashiev attended a meeting of gang leaders, at which Shamil Basayev announced the completion of preparations for the attack on the Beslan school ^[17] . According to the testimony of one of the arrested militants, a few days after the terrorist attack in Beslan, Magomed Khashiev and Abu Dzeyt visited his camp; during a conversation with the bandits, they stated that hostage-taking in school No. 1 was undertaken with the aim of putting forward political demands ^[16] .

The Russian special services several times announced the liquidation of Khashiev, but this information was not subsequently confirmed ^{[4] [14]} . For the first time, his death was reported after the arrest of members of the “Emir of Grozny” brigade, Khamzat Tazabaev, in the summer of 2003 ^[4] . On April 17, 2004, four militants from the detachment of Abu al-Walid, defending in the basement of a house in the Ingush village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, fought with law enforcement officers for several hours and were destroyed after police threw several hand grenades into the basement ^[18] . Then it was also announced that among the murdered bandits, none other than the “emir of the Sunzhensky district” Khashiev was identified ^{[18] [19] [20]} .

On October 10, 2004, the UFSB of Ingushetia reported that several fighters were found in house No. 18 on Chabiyev Street on the outskirts of Nazran ^{[2] [3]} . Among them were Magomed Khashiev, his namesake Said Khashiev and another fighter Magomed Kastoev; together with them in the house were the wives of Said and Magomed Khashiyev, as well as five of their children ^{[5] [14]} . Around 7 p.m., FSB special forces blocked approaches to house No. 18 ^[21] . The security services tried to enter into negotiations and convince the militants to let their family members go. They refused to give up and fired on machine guns at special forces, using their own wives and children as a “ human shield ” (according to another version, a woman and a child left the house during negotiations; covering her, two special forces officers were seriously injured ^[5] ) ^{[2] [3] [22] [23]} . When armored personnel carriers advanced to the besieged house, Magomed Khashiev tried to escape by instructing the remaining bandits to cover his withdrawal ^{[2] [5]} . He managed to cross the courtyard and jump over the fence, but, being behind the fence, he was killed by a machine gun burst ^[5] .