WASHINGTON — A Tajikistan man who received counter-terrorism training in the United States has now joined the barbaric Islamic group ISIS and is threatening to do harm to Americans in a newly-released video.
“Listen, you American pigs: I’ve been to America three times. I saw how you train soldiers to kill Muslims,” Gulmurod Khalimov declares in an online video, dressed in black and holding a sniper rifle. “You taught your soldiers how to surround and attack, in order to exterminate Islam and Muslims.”
“From 2003 to 2008, I received specialized training in America on the military base of Blackwater,” he states, referring to a security contracting company that owned a training base in North Carolina. The company helped train fighters from other nations to help combat terrorism.
Khalimov served as a leader in Tajikistan’s police force known as OMON, a special unit that responded to reports of terror in the nation, and was active in the elite group at least up until last year. Tajikistan is an ally of the United States and recommended Khalimov for the training.
The U.S. State Department has confirmed that Khalimov was trained in counter-terrorism tactics in the states.
“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 told CNN.
Khalimov went missing this month, and has not been seen until the release of the video, which is believed to have been recorded in Syria. He has now reportedly defected to ISIS, which identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and is threatening death upon both Americans and Tajikistanis alike.
“Allah willing, we will find your towns, we will come to your homes, and we will kill you,” he declares to the U.S. in the 10-minute footage.
“Listen, you dogs, the president and ministers, if only you knew how many boys, our brothers are here, waiting and yearning to return to Tajikistan to re-establish Sharia law there,” Kahlimov also threatens Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, stating that the nation’s policies are anti-Islamic. “We are coming to you with slaughter.”
Jhunjhunwala said that Kahlimov had been screened prior to his admission into the training program.
“All appropriate Leahy vetting was undertaken in advance of this training,” she said.
But some are concerned about the development and how it could compromise U.S. security and the safety of military members.
“It’s never a good thing to have senior counter-terrorism people become terrorists,” former Army intelligence officer Michael Breen told CNN.
As previously reported, ISIS has issued a number of threats against the United States and has outlined its aspirations of taking over the world.
We—with Allah’s help—want Paris, before Rome and Islamic Iberia,” spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in a video in March. “And after we blow up the White House, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower before Paris, and Rome, the Muslims will return to power to be the vanguard and lead in every place.”
The Islamic organization most recently seized the Iraqi city of Ramadi, killing 500.
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