Gaidar Gadzhiyev
Gaidar Malikovich Gadzhiyev (Гаджиев, Гейдар Маликович) (August 5, 1953 – December 1, 2001) was a Russian major general of the Strategic Missile Troops.
Gadzhiyev, an ethnic Avar, had been a deputy military commandant for Dagestan since 1998, and was in charge of the Urus-Martanovsky District in Chechnya when he was killed in suicide attack by a young local woman, Aiza Gazuyeva. On November 29, 2001, in what is believed to be revenge for her witnessing him personally killing her husband, Aiza Gazuyeva entered Gadzhiyev's office and detonated a bundle of hand grenades.[1] The blast killed Gazuyeva and two of Gadzhiyev's bodyguards instantly, while Gadzhiyev himself initially survived with serious injuries until he died a few days later on 1 December. Despite the attack being personally motivated and not political, the attack was one of the first notable shahidka (Chechen female suicide bomber) attacks to occur in Russia.
Gadzhiyev was awarded the Order of Courage in 2001, and posthumously the medal and title of Hero of the Russian Federation "for courage and heroism in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus" in 2002.
References
- ↑ Russia: Nord-Ost Anniversary Recalls Ascent Of Female Suicide Bomber, RFE/RL, October 27, 2006.