DUSHANBE, May 28, 2015, Asia-Plus – Missing Tajik OMON (special police unit) commander Gulmurod Halimov has appeared among Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria.
A video of Colonel Gulmurod Halimov with a sniper rifle on his shoulder appeared in social networks on May 27.
The colonel says he joined ISIL militants in protest against methods of work of the Interior Ministry, which allegedly does not allow praying and wearing Islamic clothing as well as in protest against joint military exercises with Russia and the United States.
Colonel Gulmurod Halimov disappeared in late April leaving observers to speculate about where he might be.
We will recall that some sources in law enforcement agencies and Halimov’s friends told Asia-Plus in interviews that Halimov had shown growing interest in ISIL activities in recent months.
“He turned into an ISIL fanatic and began to promote the terrorist organization”s ideas among his friends and acquaintances,” one of Halimov’s friends, who wanted to remain unnamed, told Asia-Plus.
According to him, Halimov angrily rejected their advice that joining IS would be a pointless act.
Unofficial sources say Gulmurod Halimov left Dushanbe on May 1 along with 10 other men, mostly unemployed men.
On May 2, Halimov and those men were reportedly seen at Moscow”s Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Deputy Interior Minister Ikrom Umarzoda said he didn”t have any information on the colonel. Umarzoda neither denied nor confirmed the information that Tajik police special unit commander had joined ISIL militants in Syria. “I know nothing about it,” the deputy interior minister told Asia-Plus in an interview on May 12.
Meanwhile, Halimov”s family dismissed suggestions that the colonel could leave for Syria to join ISIL militants there as “baseless.”
Halimov”s brother Nazir, 28, told Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service on May 12 that the family was “extremely worried,” since the OMON commander hasn”t contacted anyone since leaving home.
“He hasn”t been in touch with anyone by either telephone or Internet,” Nazir said, noting that all Halimov’s accounts are offline now, and his mobile phone is off, too.
Nazir said Halimov left home on April 23 after giving his wife around $200 in spending money, less than the amount he frequently gave her before departing on business trips.
Halimov has been planning family business projects, including a chicken farm, Nazir said. According to him, the relatives do not believe that Halimov could leave for Syria.
