The village was the scene of heavy fighting during the Invasion of Dagestan, after Chechnya-based militants had launched an armed incursion to Dagestan from Chechnya. In late August, the Russian military began aerial bombardments of Karamakhi. These bombings were later mentioned by the Liberation Army of Dagestan and by Chechen leader Shamil Basayev as the reason for launching the 1999 Russian apartment bombings, as revenge.