Biography[edit]

Asildarov grew up in the Kadar region of the Buynaksky District in Russia's republic of Dagestan. During the late 1990s, the area became a regional center of Salafism and had de facto independence, before military operations in September 1999 brought it back under the control of the Russian state.^[3]


Asildarov became the leader of Vilayat Dagestan's Central Sector in May 2010,^[4] and on 8 August 2012, Caucasus Emirate's leader, Dokka Umarov, appointed Asildarov as the overall leader of Vilayat Dagestan, following the death of Ibragimkhalil Daudov.^[5]


In December 2014, a video clip of Asildarov was posted online, in which he retracted his oath of allegiance to Umarov's successor, Aliaskhab Kebekov, and pledged loyalty to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Kebekov responded days later with a video, in which he condemned Asildarov's "betrayal" and appointed Kamil Saidov as the new leader of Vilayat Dagestan.^[1][6]


In an audio statement on 23 June 2015, ISIL's spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani accepted pledges of allegiance to the group made by North Caucasus militants, and announced the creation of a new Wilayat or Province covering the region. Adnani declared the leader of this new branch to be Abu Muhammad al-Qadari, a pseudonym of Asildarov.^[7][8]


On 29 September 2015, the United States Department of State added Asildarov to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.^[9]


On 3 December 2016, the FSB announced that Asildarov and four close associates had been killed in an anti-terror raid near Makhachkala, Dagestan.