Gulmurod Khalimov

Gulmurod Khalimov
Birth nameGulmurod Salimovich Khalimov (Гулмурод Салимович Халимов)
Born(1975-05-14)14 May 1975
Varzob, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union
Died8 September 2017(2017-09-08) (aged 42)
Near Deir ez-Zor, Syria
Allegiance Tajikistan (1993–2015)
 Islamic State (2015–17)
Service/branchMinistry of Internal Affairs (Tajikistan)
RankLieutenant colonel (Tajikistan)
War minister (ISIL)
Commands heldOMON (Tajikistan)[1]
Military of ISIL
Battles/warsTajikistan insurgency
Syrian Civil War

Gulmurod Salimovich Khalimov (Tajik: Гулмурод Салимович Ҳалимов, Russian: Гулмурод Салимович Халимов) (1975–2017) was a Tajik and Islamist military commander. He was a lieutenant-colonel and commander of the police special forces of the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan until 2015, when he defected to the Islamic State.[2][3] In September 2016, he was reported to have been appointed as the minister of war of IS in place of Abu Omar al-Shishani; his appointment had not been announced by IS for fears that he might be targeted in airstrikes by the anti-IS coalition.[4] On 8 September 2017, Khalimov was allegedly killed during a Russian airstrike near Deir ez-Zor, Syria.[5] However, the Tajik government, United Nations, and the United States believed that he was still alive by 2019, though his exact fate remained disputed. By 2020, Islamist militants claimed he had died at some point; this source was considered unreliable by the Tajik government.[6] Regardless, the United States had removed Khalimov from their Rewards for Justice Program by 2021.[7]

  1. ^ Roth, Andrew (30 May 2015). "Police Commander From Tajikistan Appears in ISIS Video". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Tajikistan special forces chief Gulmurod Khalimov 'joins IS'". BBC News. BBC. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  3. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (28 May 2015). "The U.S.-trained commander of Tajikistan's special forces has joined the Islamic State". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  4. ^ International Business Times (6 September 2016). "Isis: US-trained Tajik special forces chief Gulmurod Khalimov becomes Isis 'war minister'". Yahoo! News. Yahoo!. Retrieved 18 January 2017. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Russia says its air strike kills several top Islamic State commanders in Syria". Reuters. 8 September 2017.
  6. ^ Soliev 2021, pp. 32–33.
  7. ^ "Rewards for Justice - Wanted for Terrorism". Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2018.

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