Imam Shamil Battalion

{{Short description|Militant Islamist organization primarily active in the North Caucasus}}

{{About||the Volunteer Separatist Battalion in the Ukrainian International Legion|Imam Shamil Dagestan Battalion (Ukraine)}}

{{infobox war faction

| name = Imam Shamil Battalion

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| war = the Insurgency in the North Caucasus and
the Global War on Terrorism

| image = File:ImamShamilBattalionLogo.jpg

| caption = Logo of the group

| active = April 2017 – 2019

| ideology = * Salafist jihadism

• Wahhabism{{cite book |last=Hudson |first=Valerie M. |first2=Patricia |last2=Leidl |title=The Hillary Doctrine: Sex and American Foreign Policy |date=30 June 2015 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=154 |isbn=9780231539104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3apBgAAQBAJ&q=wahhabi+al+nusra&pg=PA154 |access-date=15 January 2016}}

| clans =

| leaders = {{flagicon image|ImamShamilBattalionLogo.jpg}} Sirozhiddin Mukhtarov{{POW}}{{Cite web|title=Jihadist group confirms arrest of Uzbek commander|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/06/jihadist-group-confirms-arrest-of-uzbek-commander.php|access-date=2022-08-26|website=www.longwarjournal.org|date=18 June 2020 }}

| headquarters = North Caucasus, Russia

| area = North Caucasus, Russia

| size = 100 (according to the (CFR){{Cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/al-qaedas-resurrection |title=Al-Qaeda's Resurrection |first=Bruce |last=Hoffman |date=6 March 2018 |access-date=31 July 2023 |work=Council on Foreign Relations}}

| partof = {{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} al-Qaeda

| predecessor =

| successor =

| allies = {{flagicon image|InfoboxHTS.svg}} Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.svg}} Turkistan Islamic Party

| opponents = State opponents

• {{flag|Russia}}
• {{flag|Georgia}}
• {{flag|Azerbaijan}}
• {{flag|Armenia}}
• {{flag|Turkey}}
• {{flag|South Ossetia}}
• {{flag|Abkhazia}}
• {{flag|Artsakh}} (until 2023)

Non state opponents

• {{flag|ISIS}} - Caucasus Province

| battles = 2017 Saint Petersburg metro bombing, Insurgency in the North Caucasus, Islamic State insurgency in the North Caucasus

}}

The Imam Shamil Battalion ({{Langx|ar|كتيبة الإمام شامل |Katiba Al Imam Shamil}}, {{Langx|ru|батальон имама Шамиля}}) was a militant Islamist organization in Russia. It is a North Caucasus affiliate of Al-Qaeda.{{cite news |title=Shadowy 'al-Qaeda' group claims responsibility for St Petersburg bombing |url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/4/26/shadowy-al-qaeda-group-claims-responsibility-for-st-petersburg-bombing |work=alaraby.co.uk |date=26 April 2017 |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427003635/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/4/26/shadowy-al-qaeda-group-claims-responsibility-for-st-petersburg-bombing |archive-date=27 April 2017}}{{cite news |title=Al-Qaeda-linked group claims St. Petersburg attack |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/228620 |work=Israel National News |first=Ben |last=Ariel |date=26 April 2017 |access-date=31 July 2023}}{{cite news |title=Imam Shamil Battalion claims Russia metro bombing |url=http://www.gulf-times.com/story/545704/Imam-Shamil-Battalion-claims-Russia-metro-bombing |work=Gulf-Times |date=25 April 2017 |language=ar |access-date=31 July 2023}}

The name of the group is in reference to Imam Shamil, a Muslim leader from Dagestan that fought an invasion by the Russian Empire during the Caucasian War, and was the third Imam of Caucasian Imamate.Gary Hamburg, Thomas Sanders, Ernest Tucker (eds,),Russian-Muslim Confrontation in the Caucasus: Alternative Visions of the conflict between Imam Shamil and the Russians, 1830-1859, RoutledgeCurzon 2004 pèassimMalise Ruthven,'Terror:The Hidden Source, in New York Review of Books October 24, 2013 pp.20-24, p.20.