World

Senior ISIS Commander Received Military Training In US THREE TIMES

REUTERS/Stringer

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
Font Size:

Islamic State’s new military commander received U.S. military training on at least five occasions, The New Times Reports.

TheNYT investigation of Khalimov found he participated in five U.S. training programs, including three run by the Department of State. At least one of those training programs was run by military contractor Blackwater. His extensive U.S. training put him in line for a senior post in Tajikistan’s national police force.

Khalimov is now the second most senior commander within ISIS, purportedly serving as their Minister of War. The Department of State considers Khalimov so dangerous they are offering $3 million dollars in return for any information on his whereabouts, labeling him a “specially designated global terrorist.”

“I was in America three times,” Gulmurod Khalimov recently said in a propaganda video. “God willing, I will come with this weapon to your cities, to your homes, and we will kill you,” he elaborated. Khalimov is reportedly a former police commander in Tajikistan and received training assistance from the U.S.

Khalimov served as a special forces police commander in Tajikistan which receives extensive assistance from the U.S. government for countering drug trafficking and countering extremist threats. Tajikistan shares a long border with Afghanistan. The Taliban derive the majority of their income from opium production, and move vast quantities of drugs through Tajikistan.

Khalimov’s designation announcement confirms his history saying he “is a former Tajik special operations colonel, police commander, and military sniper. He was the commander of a police special operations unit in the Ministry of Interior of Tajikistan.”

Experts cannot confirm Khalimov’s ascension to power within ISIS, but remark that his U.S. training is not an anomaly within the terrorist group. Former ISIS senior military commander, “Omar The Chechen,” served in the Georgian army, which is heavily backed by the U.S. military.

Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter

Send tips to saagar@dailycallernewsfoundation.org

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.