Sanaullah Ghafari (Pashto: ثناءالله غفاری; born October 28, 1994), better known under his nom de guerre, Shahab al-Muhajir (Arabic: شهاب المهاجر, lit. 'Shahab the Migrant') is an Afghan militant who is serving as the Emir of the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIS–K) since 2020.[1][2][3]
Early life
Sanaullah Ghafari was born on October 28, 1994, to a family of merchants near the Shakardara district of Kabul.[4][5][6] His father, Abdul Jabbar Khan, reportedly fought for the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin under Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.[7][8] His surname comes from the name of his paternal grandfather, Abdul Ghafar Khan.[9]
There are differing accounts of his ancestry, Reuters reports that he is an ethnic Tajik while Sputnik claims that he is a Pashtun from the Kharoti tribe.[10][7] Other sources claim that his family allegedly migrated from India to Afghanistan.[11][12]The IndependentPersian reports that his family lives in Pakistan.[8]
He received religious education from the Ghaffari Madrassa in Kabul, and obtained an engineering degree at Kabul University.[13][5] Ghafari joined the Afghan Army and served as a soldier.[10]
Advisory published by the State Department showing Ghafari's purported identity card from the Afghan Presidential Protective Service
In an identity document reportedly issued in January 2018 by the Afghan Presidential Protective Service and published by the State Department, Ghafari is presented as a body guard of former prime ministers Abdul Rashid Dostum and Amrullah Saleh and had his service pistol listed as an MP-446 Viking pistol. An officer working for Dostum's cabinet claimed that the document was falsified.[8]
The IndependentPersian published a document showing that Ghafari was issued a businessman weapon's license in March 2016 by the Afghan Interior Ministry.[8] The document stated that he worked as an associate for the "Shafiqullah and Ruhollah Limited Trading Company", with a source telling The Independent that Ghafari's family owned a trading company between Afghanistan and Pakistan.[8]Al Arabiya reports that Ghafari married the daughter of Engineer Shakoor, an ISIS–K leader, through the meditation of Mullah Taj Muhammad.[7]
Militant career
Former prime minister Amrullah Saleh claimed that he reportedly joined the Haqqani network between 2010 and 2012, and became a mid-level operative until his defection to ISIS Central in 2015.[8][14] The Taliban denies that Ghafari was a member of the Haqqani network.[15]
Ghafari served for ISIS Central during the wars in Iraq and Syria.[16] A Taliban intelligence source told al-Jazeera that he led a commando of 35 Afghans within ISIS after having pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[12]
In April 2020, Ghafari was named emir and head of operations of ISIS–K,[17] reportedly the first emir of ISIS–K who is not Afghan or Pakistani.[18]
After the 2021 Kabul airport attack masterminded by Ghafari, the Taliban announced that they would take every possible measure to capture him.[19] The Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) published a wanted poster for three ISIS–K members which included a photo of Ghafari.[20]
Death rumors and whereabouts
On June 6, 2023, the GDI reportedly began a "grand operation" against ISIS–K in the Sirkanay District of Kunar Province with at least 3 hideouts destroyed and 14 ISIS–K members killed.[21][22][23] The operation's objective was to kill or capture Ghafari and ISIS–K spokesman Sultan Aziz Azzam after an intelligence tip-off.[24][25][26]
Pakistani media reported Ghafari's death on June 9 under "mysterious circumstances", citing Afghan and Pakistani intelligence officials.[25]Voice of America also reported that Afghan and Pakistani intelligence sources confirmed his death, however wrote that a United States official and the United States Central Command could not give confirmation of the death.[27] A Taliban spokesman stated that the reports could not be confirmed.[25][22] The United Nations stated that these reports remain to be confirmed.[28]
In March 2024, al-Mirsaad, a website believed to be associated with the Taliban's GDI, claimed that Ghafari lived in Balochistan with his close associates.[29][30] These reports were corroborated by Reuters, citing sources in the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban who claim that he fled to Pakistan with injuries following the raid.[10]
