Tajikistani Special Forces Officer Defects To IS

After his disappearance in late April, the commander of Tajikistan’s counter-terrorist police force OMON has resurfaced as a member of Islamic State, vowing to wage jihad against the Tajik government, the United States, and other enemies of the jihadist organization. In a video address released Thursday, Colonel Gulmurod Halimov verbally attacked Tajik President Imomali Rahmon and promised the establishment of shariah law in Tajikistan. Halimov stated during the 12 minute video (now removed from Youtube) that Tajiks must stop working for Russian infidels (Tajikistan’s economy is enormously dependent on remittances from Tajiks working abroad in Russia; Tajik workers send home the equivalent of 47% of Tajikistan’s GDP per year) and join Islamic State to build shariah law in Tajikistan and other Muslim countries.

Halimov noted Tajikistan’s crackdown on Islamic dress and public prayer as the main reasons for his joining Islamic State. Tajikistan has long been wary of Islamic extremism since their civil war in the 1990s between Islamists and the Tajik government. To that end, the Tajik government has pursued a policy of restricting Islamic dress (even black clothing), beards, travel to Mecca, and even has considered banning Arabic names. Halimov also referred to democracy as “a religion of devils” and Americans as “pigs.” Before his recent turn to Islamic State, Halimov trained with Russian Specnaz in Moscow and American Special Forces in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. To have Islamic State enlist the direct aid of a military officer trained by US Special Forces is a troubling development, to say the least.

This event comes in the wake of the announcement of a meeting in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe between security officials of the Commonwealth of Independent States to discuss ways of countering Islamic State and other jihadist organizations. Last month, Russia and Tajikistan discussed the sale of $1.2 billion worth in Russian arms to Tajikistan in order to prevent Islamic State from seizing control of the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov also stated at the same CSTO meeting that Islamic State fighters were attempting to cross the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border. With a former OMON operative now in Islamic State, Tajik security officials can’t be sleeping well over the implications.