US Offers $3Mln Reward for Leads on Daesh Leader Gulmurod Khalimov

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has offered a $3 million reward for information that would lead to the capture and conviction of a former Tajik police commander who is currently one of the key Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group leaders, the US Department of State said in a press release on Tuesday.

"The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $3 million for information leading to the location, arrest, and/or conviction of Gulmurod Khalimov (variant Halimov), a key leader of the terrorist group ISIL [Islamic State], also known in Arabic as Daesh," the release stated.

The State Department noted that Khalimov is a former Tajik special operations colonel, police commander and military sniper, and served as the commander of a police special operations unit in the Ministry of Interior of Tajikistan.

In 2015 Khalimov called for violent acts against the United States, Russia, and Tajikistan via a propaganda video, according to the release.

Khalimov has been designated as a terrorist by the State Department since September 2015, and by the UN Security Council ISIL (Daesh) and al-Qaida Sanctions Committee since February 2016. Khalimov is also wanted by the Government of Tajikistan.

From 2003-2014, Khalimov participated in five counter-terrorism training courses in the United States and Tajikistan through the US Diplomatic Security and Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, a State Department official said in 2015.