By William B. Farrell
A key Tajik figure announces his allegiance to the Islamic State, with some significant potential ramifications.
The recent video appearance of Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, commander of Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry Special Forces, announcing his allegiance to Islamic State, reminds us that grievances do not necessarily resolve themselves when the attention of the world shifts elsewhere – sometimes they expand and draw others in – building to an unstable moment.
Not surprisingly, the story that is captivating the international media about Khalimov is that he was trained in the United States and Russia in tactical operations related to fighting terrorists; leaving the impression that somehow the U.S. and Russia missed a hidden radical in the cloak of a moderate who now poses a threat to us. Yet the unpursued story of why a successful 40-year-old senior official chose to leave his post, country, and presumed privilege to fight with the Islamic State in Syria – and more urgently – the potential ramifications of this event on stability in Tajikistan and Central Asia, are perhaps of greater importance. Khalimov is not from the mountains and valleys of Rasht or Badakhshan where the Mujahideen of the 1990s Tajik civil war originated. He is from the capital city of Dushanbe. He served as part of the Presidential Guard during the height of the inter-Tajik conflict and was already receiving training in Russia as the Tajik peace agreement was being penned. He was not isolated from the center; rather, he was deeply connected to it. The assertion that religion is the sole cause of his alignment with Islamic State is too simplistic to hold up to scrutiny. Certainly it appears to be an important consideration for Khalimov; but doubtful that it is the proximate cause.
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