US-trained Tajik police commander defects to IS

The US state department has confirmed that General Gulmrod Khalimov, who participated in counter-terrorism training courses in the US and Tajikistan, has defected to the Islamic State militant group

2 June 2015, 4:30pm

1 min read

Gulmurod Khalimov

A senior Tajik police commander who defected to Islamic State was trained in America on five separate occasions, a US State Department official has said.

Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, the head of the Tajikistan special forces unit known as Omon, claimed in a video released by Isis that he had travelled to the US three times for counter-terrorism training, including with the private military firm Blackwater.

The claim has been confirmed by the State Department. “From 2003-2014 Colonel Khalimov participated in five counter-terrorism training courses in the United States and in Tajikistan, through the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security/Anti-Terrorism Assistance program,” spokeswoman Pooja Jhunjhunwala said.

Omon has been one of the key elements of US security cooperation withTajikistan, which has focused on training and equipping the country’s special forces.

Even before this alleged defection to Isis, these training programmes were controversial: while the special forces are Tajikistan’s most capable units and are used to combat genuine security threats, they are also a key element of President Emomali Rahmon’s repressive rule, and have been implicated in indiscriminate force in suppressing internal opposition.