Tajikistani SWAT commander joins Islamic State

The head of the Tajikistani OMON (special police force), Colonel Gulmurjd Khalimov, has publicly announced in a video that he has joined the Islamic State. The colonel had disappeared in late April. In the new video, Khalimov describes in both the Russian and Tajik languages how he joined the Islamists and calls on Tajikistan to wage jihad. The colonel says that “the caliphate will reach Tajikistan and reclaim its lands.”

Khalimov talks about his past, about studying in Russia and doing an internship in the United States, and about how he subsequently became disappointed by democracy.

Gulmurod Khalimov served as commander of the Tajikistani OMON team for three years. He was awarded several medals for outstanding service. His whereabouts have been unknown since April 23. His colleagues had suspected that he had joined the Islamic State.

One of the colonel’s acquaintances told the news agency ASIA-Plus that Khalimov had recently become a fanatic and had begun to propagate the Islamic State.

According to Tajikistani authorities, Khalimov departed to Moscow with a group of 10 people on May 1. On May 2, he was seen in the Moscow airport Sheremetyevo.

Read Meduza’s report on how Moscow’s migrant workers and Tajikistani citizens become radicalized and move to the Islamic State.