Special to WorldTribune.com

Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has not experienced “real military action” and would be wiped out if Chechen forces joined the battle, according to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Kadyrov has expressed his wish to fight ISIL in Syria to Russian President Valdimir Putin.

“If our request is granted, it will be a celebration for us,” he said. “But it’s the decision of the commander-in-chief to take.”

Putin is not likely to grant Kadyrov’s wish as the president said Russian military action in Syria will be restricted to air strikes. But Kadyrov said ISIL would not be prepared for a ground force of Chechen fighters.

“The terrorists don’t know what a real war is, because they have only been subjected to air strikes. They don’t have experience of real military action,” said Kadyrov in an interview with a Russian news agency.

“As a Muslim, as a Chechen, as a patriot of Russia, I am stating that in 1999, when our republic was seized by these devils, we gave our oath on the Qur’an that all our lives we would fight against them, wherever they are. I am not just saying this, I’m asking that we are allowed to go there and take part in these special operations,” said Kadyrov.

Despite accusations of rights abuses by his forces, Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya since 2004, is said to be accepted by Moscow since he has brought relative stability to the region after many years of fighting.

A unit of Kadyrov’s men known as the “death battalion” also fought alongside pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine. Apti Bolotkhanov, the battalion’s leader, told the UK’s Guardian that the “death battalion” volunteered to fight in Ukraine, but experts believe they were sent by the Kremlin.

For fighting on the side of the pro-Russian rebels, Kadyrov was recently put on a Ukrainian sanctions list. The Chechen leader said he had no interest in visiting Kiev, and if he did, “nobody would be in a position to ask my name.”

  Leader of Chechen ‘death battalion’ says his troops would wipe out ISIL, Ramzan Kadyrov, Vladimir Putin, WorldTribune.com