 The war ended in 1996, with a Chechen separatist victory establishing a "de facto" independent Chechnya.Barayev formed the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment, where he and his associates became infamous for their alleged part in a wave of lawlessness which swept the devastated country.Crimes include including brutal killings and kidnappings as well as suspected involvement in two failed attempts to assassinate the Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, and the successful assassinations of the Chechen interior minister Nasrudi Bazhiyev, and Shadid Bargishev, head of the newly formed anti-abduction service.