“The Tajik” has been promoted to be the terror group’s number one battlefield commander.

Khalimov replaces Abu Omar Al Shishani – AKA “Omar the Chechen”, “Red Beard” and “The Ginger Jihadi” for his distinctive facial hair – who was killed in a US air strike in July.

The US has already slapped a £2million bounty on "The Tajik" head.

Khalimov, 41, defected to ISIS and pledged allegiance to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a YouTube video in May 2015.

The US believes he is particularly dangerous due to his counter-terrorism training – which included "crisis response, hostage negotiation and tactical leadership”.

It fears the trained sniper could use his knowledge of US tactics against his former sponsors.

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