Shamil Basayev in the context of "War of Dagestan"

The 1999 war in Dagestan, also known as the Dagestan incursions (Russian: Война в Дагестане), was an armed conflict that began when the Ichkerian-based Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB), an Islamist group led by Shamil Basayev, Ibn al-Khattab, Ramzan Akhmadov and Arbi Barayev, invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan on 7 August 1999. They invaded in support of the Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The war ended with a major victory for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Dagestan, and the retreat of the IIPB. The invasion of Dagestan, alongside a series of apartment bombings in September 1999, served as the main casus belli for the Second Chechen War.