Gulmurod Khalimov

Gulmurod Salimovich Khalimov (Гулмурод Салимович Ҳалимов) is a Tajik and Islamist military commander. A lieutenant-colone] when commander of the police special forces of the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan until 2015, he has since defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In September 2016, he was reported to have been appointed as the minister of war of ISIL in place of Abu Omar al-Shishani; his appointment had not been announced by ISIL for fears that he might be targeted in airstrikes by the anti-ISIL coalition.