Aug 26, 2026

US Offers $8 Million Reward for Tips on ISIS-K Leader Sanaullah Ghafari

By Afolabi Olaiya Idowu in news

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The United States has placed a reward of up to $8 million for information leading to the identification, location, arrest or prosecution of Sanaullah Ghafari, the leader of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), also known as Shahab al-Muhajir.

The announcement, issued Tuesday through the State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme, comes roughly four months after Nigerian troops and American forces killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as ISIS’s second-in-command, in a joint operation in the Lake Chad region of northeast Nigeria.

Ghafari, born in Afghanistan in 1994, was appointed by ISIS core leadership in June 2020 to head the group’s Khorasan branch.

Officials describe him as an experienced military commander who has been involved in guerrilla operations and the planning of suicide and complex attacks.

He is said to approve ISIS-K operations across Afghanistan and arrange funding for the group’s activities.

An earlier ISIS communiqué referred to him as one of the organisation’s “urban lions” in Kabul.

The United States previously designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and had offered a higher reward in the past; the current $8 million figure reflects the latest public incentive under the Rewards for Justice programme.

In a related move, the programme is also offering up to $10 million for information on Obaidullah, a senior ISIS-K figure and close associate of Ghafari linked to financing and operational planning, bringing the combined potential rewards for the two leaders to $18 million.

The timing of the new bounty is notable. In mid-May 2026, a carefully planned joint US-Nigerian operation in the Metele area of Borno State eliminated al-Minuki, a Nigerian from Mainok who had risen through the ranks of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

He had become a regional commander after the 2018 death of Mamman Nur and was later elevated to a senior global role within ISIS.

Both US President Donald Trump and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu publicly confirmed the strike, which also killed several of al-Minuki’s lieutenants.

Security analysts see the latest reward offer as part of Washington’s sustained pressure on ISIS leadership networks that stretch from Afghanistan and Central Asia to the Sahel and West Africa.

By publicly incentivising information on Ghafari while highlighting recent operational success in Nigeria, the United States is signalling that high-value targets remain under active pursuit across continents.

Anyone with credible information is urged to contact the Rewards for Justice programme through its secure channels, including Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp or its Tor-based tip line.

Eligible tipsters may also qualify for relocation assistance in addition to the financial reward.

The announcement underscores that, years after the territorial defeat of the so-called caliphate, ISIS affiliates continue to pose a transnational threat—and that disrupting their remaining leadership remains a priority for US counter-terrorism efforts.