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Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili

Up to $5 Million Reward

Over the past several years, Syria-based Georgian national Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, also known as Omar the Chechen, has held a number of top military positions within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

As of mid-2014, Batirashvili was a senior ISIL commander and Shura Council member based in al-Raqqah, Syria. He was identified as the ISIL military commander in a public video distributed by the group in late June 2014. Batirashvili oversaw an ISIL prison facility in al-Tabqa, close to al-Raqqah, where ISIL possibly held foreign hostages. As of mid-2014, Batirashvili also coordinated closely with ISIL’s financial section and had a base of operations for the terrorist organization in the Minbij, Syria area.

In early June 2014, Batirashvili ordered ISIL members to travel from Syria to Iraq to retrieve vehicles, weapons, and ammunition. According to an official social media account for ISIL in the Syrian Hasakah Governorate at this time, Batirashvili issued an important communiqué ordering the general mobilization of all ISIL provinces to support the group’s efforts in Mosul, Iraq, and to prepare for any emergencies.

Batirashvili pledged allegiance to ISIL and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Abu Du’a), in mid-2013. In May 2013, he was appointed northern commander for ISIL by al-Baghdadi, with authority over ISIL’s military operations and ISIL’s forces in northern Syria, specifically Aleppo, al-Raqqah, Latakia, and northern Idlib Provinces. As of late 2013, he was the ISIL amir (leader) for northern Syria and was located in and around Aleppo Province. He was also in charge of fighters from Chechnya and elsewhere in the Caucasus.

On September 24, 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Batirashvili as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224 for acting for or on behalf of ISIL.