The Department of State announced at the end of August that its Rewards for Justice Program was offering “up to $3 million for information leading to the location, arrest, and/or conviction of Gulmurod Khalimov”, an Islamic State member and recruiter.
Khalimov is now the top dog “minister of war” for the Islamic State. The 41-year-old colonel underwent US special arms training as a sniper by the State Department. His training was in counter-terrorism, which included tactical leadership training, making him an especially dangerous man. Khalimov “became radicalized fairly recently.”
Last year, MEMRI reported that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi called on professionals living in the West “to immigrate to the territories under his control and help build up the state”; which included engineers, doctors, preachers, scholars of Islamic jurisprudence, judges, and military experts. Kalimov, thanks to the State Department, is the latter.
“US-trained sniper now ‘minister of war’ for ISIS”, by Jamie Schram, New York Post, September 7, 2016:
An American-trained sniper has been promoted to a top position in the Islamic State war machine.
Gulmurod Khalimov, a 41-year-old colonel who underwent US special arms training while heading the Tajikistan special police force, was tapped to be ISIS’s minister of war, according to a new report.
The US State Department reportedly has put a $3 million bounty on Khalimov, who has become one of the world’s most wanted men, news.com.au reported.
Khalimov has replaced the infamous red-bearded Tarhan Batirashvili, better known as “Omar the Chechen,” who rose through the ranks of ISIS before he was killed in a US airstrike in July.
“The Tajik has been appointed as the successor to the dead terrorist Tarhan Batirashvili who (was) also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen),” according to the Iraqi News, citing an unnamed Iraqi security source.
“The Tajik Golmurud Khalimov was elected as the first military commander in ISIS. The organization did not announce it officially because it fears that once mentioned, there might be a series of airstrikes against them,” Iraqi News said.
Khalimov, a father of eight, became radicalized fairly recently.
He joined the Islamic State in 2015 after disappearing while serving as chief of Tajikistan’s special police force last April.
The State Department’s Diplomatic Security/Anti-Terrorism Assistance program organized the courses, which were also taught by Academi — the private American military company formerly known as Blackwater.
In the video, Khalimov also bragged that he received military training in Russia while Tajikistan’s police chief…..
His second wife, an ex-press secretary for Tajikistan’s customs service, reportedly has stayed by his side and is also wanted by the authorities.
Interpol has issued a Red Notice for his arrest and extradition to Tajikistan, where he is being sought for treason….