Washington (CNN)
An ISIS fighter who calls for jihad in a new online video was trained
in counterterrorism tactics on American soil, in a program run by the
United States, officials tell CNN.
The
video features a former police commander from Tajikistan named Col.
Gulmurod Khalimov. He appears in black ISIS garb with a sniper rifle and
a bandolier of ammunition. He says in the video that he participated in
programs on U.S. soil three times, at least one of which was in
Louisiana.
The State Department has confirmed this claim.
"From
2003-2014 Colonel Khalimov participated in five counterterrorism
training courses in the United States and in Tajikistan, through the
Department of State's Diplomatic Security/Anti-Terrorism Assistance
program," said spokeswoman Pooja Jhunjhunwala.
The
program is intended to train candidates from participating countries in
the latest counterterrorism tactics, so they can fight the very kind of
militants that Khalimov has now joined.
A
State Department official said Khalimov was trained in crisis response,
tactical management of special events, tactical leadership training and
related issues.
In the video, Khalimov says that what he saw during his training sessions turned him against his sponsors.
"Listen,
you American pigs: I've been to America three times. I saw how you
train soldiers to kill Muslims," he says in Russian. "You taught your
soldiers how to surround and attack, in order to exterminate Islam and
Muslims."
Then, in the most chilling
part of the 10-minute video, he looks directly into the camera and says,
"God willing, we will find your towns, we will come to your homes, and
we will kill you."
He then demonstrates
his dexterity with a sniper rifle by blowing apart a tomato from a
distance of perhaps 25 yards. The scene is played in slow motion.
The
American program in which Khalimov participated is designed to teach
tactics used by police and military units against terrorists by
countries that cooperate with the United States on security matters. But
now experts are concerned that this defector has brought ISIS not only a
propaganda victory, but also an insider's knowledge of the playbook the
United States is using in the fight against ISIS.
"That
is a dangerous capability," said former Army intelligence officer
Michael Breen. "It's never a good thing to have senior counterterrorism
people become terrorists."
"It sounds
like he was involved in defending sensitive people and sensitive
targets," said Breen, who is now with the Truman Project in Washington.
"He knows how to plan counterterrorism operations. So he knows how the
people who protect a high-value target will be thinking; he knows how
people who protect an embassy would be thinking."
Former
Army sniper Paul Scharre, now with the Center for a New American
Security, said Khalimov could not only help train other ISIS fighters in
tactics, but also serve as a recruiter for the group.
"They're obviously trying to draw in recruits" with the video, he said.
Khalimov
was an officer of the primary counterterrorism unit which responds to
terrorist threats in Tajikistan, a State Department official said, so he
and other members of his unit were recommended for the program by the
Tajik government.
"All appropriate Leahy vetting was undertaken in advance of this training," said spokeswoman Jhunjhunwala.
Scharre,
who has served as a trainer of Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan, says
there is always a risk that a trainee will turn against their American
instructors.
But Breen, who has also
participated in training sessions overseas, said building
counterterrorism partners requires a necessary leap of faith. "There's
absolutely no way to beat an opponent like the Islamic State, without
training a lot of people," he said. "That's a core of our strategy."