Ilyas Gorchkhanov
Ingush militant (1967–2005) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ilyas (Ilias) Gorchkhanov (1967[1] – 13 October 2005) was the first leader of the Ingush Jamaat, which later became part of the Caucasus Front's Ingushetian Sector in Ingushetia of the Second Chechen War.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Gorchkhanov.jpg)
Gorchkhanov, an ethnic Ingush, allegedly started his military career as a volunteer fighting in Chechnya.[2] When the Ingush Jamaat started taking shape, he became the leader of the Nazran unit and was later often cited as the leader of the entire Jamaat.[3] He was closely associated with the Yarmuk Jamaat in Kabardino-Balkaria and, together with Anzor Astemirov, was one of the first persons wanting to realize the Caucasus Emirate during the First and Second Chechen Wars.[4]
In October 2005, Gorchkhanov was one of the commanders of the 2005 Nalchik raid, an attack by a large group of militants on Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, during which he was killed in action;[5] some media reports dubbed him as the leader of the raid.[6] After Gorchkhanov's death, Akhmed Yevloyev succeeded him as the leader of the Ingush Jamaat.[5]