Following the outbreak of the First Chechen War in 1994, Vadalov joined the separatist fighters from Gudermes; he may have served in the unit of Sheik Fathi, a Chechen who had lived in Jordan and engaged in Islamist conflicts in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It has been postulated that if Vadalov did indeed serve alongside Fathi, it would indicate a very early exposure to the Islamist interpretation of the war in Chechnya.