HOMO JIHADICUS

The situation is completely different in the case of Chechnya, Dagestan and
the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia, where the numbers are significantly higher.
When it comes the entire, two million strong, Chechen population (the Caucasus,
Russia, Europe, the Middle East), around 0.05%, or about 250-500 people
per million participate in jihad. The numbers are even higher when it
comes to Chechens residing in the Pankisi – about 1.25% or hypothetically
12,500 per million. It is the highest indicator amongst all Muslim communities
worldwide. Also the participation of Dagestanis is significant (about
0.01% and 160 people per million).
Juxtaposition of the number of militants from the Post-Soviet states with number
of those from other countries puts the region in the middle (if the former
USSR is treated as a whole) or at the bottom of the list (each state separately).
For comparison, the number of militants from Tunisia is estimated at above
3,000, and 2,500 from Saudi Arabia, 1,500 from Jordan, 1,000 from Turkey, 900
from Lebanon, 1,200 from France, 600 from Libya, 600 from the United Kingdom,
440 from Belgium, 250 from Austria and Holland, and 600 from Germany
98 . Here again the fighters from the Northern Caucasus stand out, with their
numbers at 1,500, making them almost a third of all the post-Soviet militants
in Syria and Iraq.
PRACE OSW REPORT OSW 09/2012 09/2015
If, however, the Post-Soviet area is treated as a whole, it ranks only behind the
Middle East and Maghreb (around 6,000 people each), equal to Western Europe
(about 3,000-4,000). Looking at the estimates of the overall number of
the foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq (about 15,000-20,000 99 ), it can be stated
that the militants from the former USSR, who constitute up to 15–20% of them,
are over-represented, compared with the share of post-Soviet Muslims in the
overall number of people professing Islam globally (around 80 million from 1.5
billion Muslims, 5–6%). Only a comparison of this kind allows for an evaluation
of the real scale of the phenomenon described: the post-Soviet Jihadists are
clearly over-represented amongst the foreign militants fighting in Syria and
Iraq. This, however, does not change the fact that the phenomenon of leaving
for Syria is still, compared to the overall Muslim population, a marginal one in
all the countries of the region. An exception to that are Chechens (regardless of
98
Ibid.
99
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/cia-triples-number-islamic-statefighters-201491232912623733.html;
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/
islamic-state-50000-fighters-syria-2014819184258421392.html; http://www.theguardian.
com/world/2014/oct/30/foreign-jihadist-iraq-syria-unprecedented-un-isis
40