Incident Summary:
09/04/1999: In Buynaksk, Dagestan, Russia, sixty-four people were killed and over 100 were wounded when a GAZ-52 vehicle containing one ton of explosives was blown up near the apartment building where officers of the 136th Motor-Rifle Brigade of the Russian Defense Ministry lived together with their families. Seven perpetrators were later arrested for the attack. In 2001, Isa Zaynudinov and Alisultan Salikhov received life terms from the Dagestan Supreme Court, Abdulkadyr Kadyrov and Magomed Magomedov, were sentenced to nine years of hard labor, while Zaynudin Zaynudinov and Makhatch Abdusametov were released under an amnesty law after receiving three-year sentences. In 2006, Magomed Salikhov, charged with organizing the attack, was acquitted.
Overview
GTD ID:
199909040001
When:
1999-09-04
Country:
Russia
Region:
Eastern Europe
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Dagestan
City:
Buynaksk
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Military |
Name of Entity |
Russian Army |
Specific Description |
Russian Army Barracks in Dagestan, Russian Federation |
Nationality of Target |
Russia |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Vehicle |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Although Salikhov was found not guilty of this attack, he was found guilty of taking part in illegal armed formations, illegal crossing of the state border of the Russian Federation and knowingly using forged documents. He was sentenced to four years and four months of imprisonment for these offenses. Russia has always linked the Buynaksk blast to Chechen Islamic separatist rebels and this attack, along with several other apartment bombings that occurred in September 1999 have often been cited as pretexts for Russia's military intervention in Chechnya, which began on October 1, 1999 (cf. 199909090002; 199909130003; 199909160002). |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Group Sub-name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Chechen Rebels (suspected) |
Commander Ibn al-Khattab |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
64 Fatalities / 100 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
64 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
100 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
“Two get life sentences for Chechen-linked bombing in Dagestan,” Agence France Presse, March 19, 2001. |
“Rebel In Russian Southern Republic Sentenced To Four Years,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 3, 2006. |
“Jury Acquits Man Charged With Organizing 1999 Army Quarters Blast In Buynaksk,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, January 24, 2006. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties