Isis in Russia: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov says Islamic State's governorate in Caucuses is a 'bluff'

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said that Isis was merely "bluffing" when it announced the creation of its first wilayat, or governorate, in the Northern Caucasus on 22 June.

Isis spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani made the announcement of the new governorate after the leader of the Caucasus Emirate pledged his allegiance to Isis in a new propaganda video.

Aslan Byutukayev, the leader of the Chechen terrorist group, declared his loyalty to Isis commander-in-chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi saying: "We need to hurry up and unite so we can cut off the heads of the infidels."

Russian media reported Kadyrov derided Byutukayev's announcement that his group would join Isis.

"This statement is nothing more than a bluff," Kadyrov said. "I don't think that a few surviving bandits who are still hiding in the woods can provide serious help to radicals from the so-called Iblis State," he continued, using the Arabic word for "devil" to refer to the terrorist organisation.

Kadyrov added: "These thugs have no chance at all here ... Nonetheless, we're not ignoring the threat that the Iblis State could pose, and so we will continue working to not allow the spread of this contagion in Chechnya. We will mercilessly destroy devils and bandits."

According to Vice News, the Chechen leader controls Chechnya with "an iron fist".

As previously reported by IBTimes UK, the Caucasus Emirate has worked as an umbrella group for smaller militant organisations in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. The terrorist group is estimated to have around 15,000 soldiers, leaders and facilitators.

The Caucasus Emirate were officially designated as a terrorist organisation by the UK, US, Russia and the United Nations after it launched a series of attacks between 2009 and 2014. It was hinted in May that the group would join Isis after several Chechen and Daghestani commanders pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State.

Over 400 Chechen fighters have joined Isis in Syria and Iraq since 2011, according to the Russian Interior Ministry. Two of those fighters, Omar Al-Shishani and Muslem Al-Shishani, were given key roles in the militant organisation.