After the First Chechen War, Supyan Abdullayev held the rank of Colonel and the deputy of Islam Khalimov, following Khalimov's appointment to the post of the interior minister in 1997. Abdullaev left the ministry following the gun battle in Gudermes between the Salafis and the supporters of then-president Aslan Maskhadov on 15 July 1998. In the aftermath, Abdullaeev grew distant from politics and became known as a "second stringer."