official Russian state media and its branches in Dagestan officially claimed that the bombing was organized by Rabbani-Khalil. It was long after Rabbani-Khalil rejected responsibility and blamed instead head of Republic of Dagestan in one of his popular videos clarifying situation around him and militants in North Caucasus with historical pretext. Apparently the motives of the head of Republic of Dagestan was to discredit and blacken the image of Muslim militants that gained quite a popularity among the local population. However, there was no response to this claim of Rabbani-Khalil from the then-head of Dagestan, Magomedali Magomedov. Shariat Jamaat Following the loss of several of its key leaders in late 2004, remnants of Jennet were re-organized and transformed into Sharia Jamaat (Arabic for "Islamic Law Community"). The new group, much larger and more decentralized (including the semi-autonomous local jamaats in Buinaksk, Gubden, Khasavyurt and Kaspiysk), is loosely organized mostly into many small clandestine urban cells, some with only three to five people, with a particularly strong presence in Makachkala. The Jamaat also maintains several larger guerrilla subunits of up to 15 fighters each, which are based in the forested and mountainous areas of Dagestan and occasionally engage in relatively large battles against Russian special forces backed by artillery and air support (such as a battle in March 2009 in which 16 rebels and at least five Russian troops were killed). The new group gradually became less discriminating in their attacks, targeting even rank-and-file traffic police officers, and killing more than 40 policemen in the first half-year of 2005. In May 2005 it became part of the umbrella organization Caucasian Front established by the new president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Sheikh Abdul Halim, following the death of his predecessor Aslan Maskhadov. The group is believed to be responsible for many high-profile attacks such as the bombing which killed more than 10 Russian special forces soldiers in Makhachkala and the assassination of the republic's deputy Interior Minister, General Magomed Omarov in 2005. Makasharipov was killed during a shootout with Russian troops on 6 July 2005, and his deputy Rabbani (Rappani Khalilov) then took over command. Rabbani was said to be an extremely popular with the youth and was able to recruit hundreds of fighters into Jamaat's ranks. He was closely allied with the Chechen rebels and the commander of foreign fighters in the Caucasus, Abu Hafs al-Urduni, and was killed