US Offers $18m Reward For Information On 2 ISIS-K Leaders…

The United States government has offered rewards of up to $18 million for information leading to the identification or location of two senior leaders of the Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISIS-K.

The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice programme announced the offers in separate notices published on its X handle on Tuesday.

The programme offered up to $8 million for information leading to the identification or location of Shahab al-Muhajir, also known as Sanaullah Ghafari, the leader of ISIS-K.

According to the programme, ISIS’ central leadership appointed Ghafari, who was born in Afghanistan in 1994, as the head of ISIS-K in June 2020.

An ISIS communiqué announcing his appointment described him as an experienced military commander and one of the group’s “urban lions” in Kabul.

The US said Ghafari had been involved in guerrilla operations as well as planning suicide bombings and complex attacks.

“Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $8 million for information on Ghafari,” the programme said, accusing him of approving ISIS-K operations across Afghanistan and arranging funding for the group.

The US government also announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on another senior ISIS-K figure identified as Obaidullah, also known as Salahuddin and Maulawi Rajab.

Rewards for Justice said Obaidullah helps plan ISIS-K attacks and operations, commands groups carrying out terrorist attacks and assists in managing the organisation’s finances through its al-Siddiq Office.

The programme described the al-Siddiq Office as a regional ISIS directorate responsible for overseeing the group’s activities across Asia and providing financial support to its branches and networks.

It said Obaidullah was a close associate of Ghafari and had been linked to several ISIS-K terrorist plots targeting US, European and Middle Eastern interests.

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The US programme also linked associates of Obaidullah to the March 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Russia, which killed 145 people with gunfire and explosives and was followed by a fire that destroyed the facility.

Rewards for Justice said ISIS-K is an Afghanistan-based terrorist organisation that also conducts operations in Pakistan.

The group, according to the US government, is made up largely of former members of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015.

The US has linked ISIS-K to several deadly attacks, including the July 2016 bombing of a peaceful protest in Kabul, which killed nearly 80 people and injured about 230 others.

The group also claimed responsibility for the May 2020 attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul, which killed 24 people, including newborn babies and their mothers.

ISIS-K was also responsible for the August 2021 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to the US, during the evacuation of Afghanistan.

The attack killed 13 US military personnel and about 160 civilians.

The US Department of State designated ISIS-K as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in January 2016, after designating it a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organisation in September 2015.

Obaidullah was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US government in November 2021.

Rewards for Justice urged anyone with credible information on the two men to submit tips through its official reporting channels.