Shamil Basayev
Chechen militant Islamist leader (1965-2006) · Died at 41
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Something wrong?Shamil Basayev led the Chechen insurgency against Russia for over a decade, masterminding some of the deadliest hostage crises in modern history - Budyonnovsk hospital in 1995, the Moscow theater in 2002, Beslan school in 2004. By the time he died in 2006, he was the most feared and hated man in Russia.
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Born 14 January 1965, Basayev rose from field commander to brigadier general in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, personally planning the recapture of Grozny in 1996 alongside Aslan Maskhadov. He served briefly as vice-prime minister from 1997 to 1998 before returning to armed resistance, adopting the nom de guerre Emir Abdullah Shamil Abu-Idris in 2003. His operations killed hundreds of civilians: the Budyonnovsk hospital raid, the Moscow theater siege, the Beslan school attack, truck bombings, aircraft bombings, the Nazran raid. Journalist Tom de Waal noted the dissonance - medium height, bushy beard, high forehead, quiet voice, "almost unassuming in the flesh." On 10 July 2006, Basayev died in a truck explosion during an arms deal, either from a landmine he was examining or a booby-trapped vehicle detonated to destroy the shipment.
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