Incident Summary:
05/14/2003: Two suicide bombers attempted to kill Chechnya's pro-Russia administrator Akhmad Kadyrov at a crowded Moslem festival in Iliskhan-Yurt, Chechnya. One of the suicide bombers successfully approached Kadyrov and detonated her explosive device. The explosive device carried by the second woman failed to explode. Kadyrov survived the attack, which left at least 18 people died, including four of his bodyguards, and 78 wounded. The Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the blast.
Overview
GTD ID:
200305140005
When:
2003-05-14
Country:
Russia
Region:
Eastern Europe
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Chechnya
City:
Ilaskhan-Yurt
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Government (General) |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Government Official |
| Specific Description |
Akhmad Kadyrov, a pro-Russian administrator, at a crowded Moslem festival in Iliskhan-Yurt, Chechnya |
| Nationality of Target |
Russia |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Suicide vest explosive devices were used in this incident. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | Yes |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Group Sub-name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Chechen Rebels |
Black Widows, Commander Shamil Basayev |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Unknown) |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
19 Fatalities / 78 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
19 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
| Total Number of Injured |
78 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| "Chechnya suffers second major terror bombing this week," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, May 14, 2003. |
| Steven Lee Myers, "2nd bombing this week in Chechnya kills 15 at festival," The New York Times, May 15, 2003. |
| "Chechen leader says new attempt was made on his life," AFX, May 15, 2003. |
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
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