User:Nanobear~enwiki/Bombings background

Background
At the end of 1997, Ibn Al-Khattab attacked a unit of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the city of Buynaksk in an operation that according to Sergei Markedonov served as a "demonstration of strength". On August 7, 1999 Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev and arab warlord Ibn al-Khattab had launched an armed invasion of the Russian republic of Dagestan from Chechnya, in support of the Islamic Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. However, the Dagestani security forces repelled their attack, and in two weeks the invaders were driven out. Later, a Dagestani militant group claimed responsibility for the apartment bombings.

In 1996 Basayev had warned a British reporter that if war resumed, "Moscow will be destroyed -- not one person will be left. I'm just warning you so if you have any flats there you'd better sell up."