The Imam Shamil Battalion is a Salafi jihadist organization primarily active in the North Caucasus, founded in April 2017 as the Caucasian/Russian branch of al-Qaeda. It was named for Caucasian Imamate leader Imam Shamil, and it claimed responsibility for the 2017 Saint Petersburg Metro bombing in retaliation for the Russian intervention in Syria. It pledged to launch attacks in Russia until it withdrew its soldiers from Russia and the Caucasus.