US offers $18m for information on two ISIS-K leaders

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

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The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice programme announced the offers in a notice posted on its X handle on Tuesday.

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The programme is offering up to $8 million for information on ISIS-K leader, Shahab al-Muhajir, also known as Sanaullah Ghafari.

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According to Rewards for Justice, ISIS’ core leadership appointed Ghafari, who was born in Afghanistan in 1994, as leader of ISIS-K in June 2020.

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An ISIS communiqué announcing his appointment described him as an experienced military leader and one of ISIS-K’s “urban lions” in Kabul who had been involved in guerrilla operations and the planning of suicide and complex attacks.

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“Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $8 million for information on Ghafari,” who is responsible for approving ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding for the group’s activities, the programme said.

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In another notice, the programme said Obaidullah, also known as Salahuddin and Maulawi Rajab, helps plan ISIS-K attacks and operations, commands groups conducting terrorist attacks and helps manage the group’s finances through its al-Siddiq Office.

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The al-Siddiq Office, according to Rewards for Justice, is a regional ISIS directorate responsible for overseeing ISIS activities in Asia and providing financial support to ISIS branches and networks.

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The programme said Obaidullah is a close associate of ISIS-K emir Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir.

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“Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on Obaidullah, a key leader of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the programme said.

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It added that Obaidullah was also connected to multiple ISIS-K terrorist plots targeting US, European and Middle Eastern interests.

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Rewards for Justice said individuals associated with Obaidullah killed 145 people with gunfire and explosives in the March 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Russia, which was subsequently destroyed by fire.

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The programme said ISIS-K is an Afghanistan-based terrorist group that conducts operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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It said the group, composed primarily of former members of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015.

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Rewards for Justice also linked ISIS-K to several attacks, including the July 2016 bombing of a peaceful protest in Kabul, which it said killed nearly 80 people and wounded about 230 others.

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The programme said ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a May 2020 attack on a Kabul maternity hospital that killed 24 people, including newborn babies and their mothers.

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It also said the group claimed responsibility for the August 2021 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, in which 13 US military personnel and about 160 civilians were killed during the evacuation operation.

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

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The department designated Obaidullah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in November 2021.

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

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