KAZAN. March 6 (Interfax) - Several hundreds of Russian followers of the Wahhabi teaching of Islam are taking part in the hostilities in Syria on the opposition side, Rais Suleymanov, the head of the Volga Center for Regional and Ethnic-Religious Studies, said at a scientific conference in Kazan dealing with the events in Syria and their effect on Muslims in Russia.
"Acquiring combat experience, these Mujahedeen may join the Wahhabi underground in Tatarstan, so stepping up their activities in the Volga region," Suleymanov said.
He identified the most prominent Russian Wahhabis fighting against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria as Daud Khalukhayev from Ingushetia, the leader of the so-called Chechen Brigade, Airat Vakhitov and Salman Bulgari from Tatarstan.