Anzor Astemirov (, 3 December 1976 – 24 March 2010), also known as Emir Sayfullah (Sword of God), was an Islamist leader of a terrorist group in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus. For several years, Astemirov headed the local terrorist group Yarmuk Jamaat, eventually becoming the main ideologist of the pan-Islamist militant organization Caucasus Emirate, as well as its wali (governor) of Kabardino-Balkaria. His key position as the Emirate's chief Sharia Islamic law qadi (judge) made him the third in Caucasian insurgent hierarchy, after Dokka Umarov and his military deputy Akhmed Yevloyev. The law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation put him on federal and international wanted lists for murder, terrorist attacks, armed trafficking and several other crimes and offered a reward of 3 million rubles ($117,354) for information that would lead to his capture. He was killed in a gunfight with Russian security forces in March 2010. Biography Early life Born in Kremenchuk, Soviet Ukraine. In the early 1990s, he was one of a group of young men sent by the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Kabardino-Balkaria, to study Islamic theology at King Saud University, in Saudi Arabia. Upon his return to Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, he and Musa Mukozhev became deputy directors of the Institute of Islamic Studies (founded by the former KGB officer Ruslan Nakhushev, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2005), and co-founded the Islamic Center, which years later would evolve into the Yarmuk Jamaat. Astemirov, who was fluent in Arabic, also worked as a correspondent for the Arabic-language TV Al Jazeera. According to some sources, he fought in both Chechen Wars on the side of Chechen separatist forces. In 2001, Astemirov and Mukozhev were both detained by Russian security forces on suspicion of terrorism, however they were released three months later. Militant activities After the death of Muslim Atayev (Amir Sayfullah), Astemirov became the charismatic leader of the Yarmuk Jamaat, and took on the same Islamic nom de guerre as Atayev. Musa Mukozhev (Amir Abu Muhammad) continued to be his closest collaborator. In December 2004, Astemirov gained notoriety when he led a rebel raid against a Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) headquarters in Nalchik, where several of his associates killed four officers, looted the armory and set the building on fire. In May 2005, Astemirov gave an oath of loyalty to the Chechen separatist leader Abdul-Khalim Sadullayev (Sheikh Abdul-Halim), and