A special forces commander from Tajikistan, who has been missing since late April, appeared Thursday in an online video where he pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

Gulmurod Khalimov is perhaps the highest-profile defector from the majority-Muslim ex-Soviet republic in central Asia. Since vanishing from duty in late April, he has sparked a search across Tajikistan, and endless speculation about his location and intentions.

Islamic State's propaganda often targets narrow demographics for recruitment. Russian speakers in central Asia are one of those groups: one preteen boy from Kazakhstan has been the star of several IS videos. (RELATED: New ISIS Video Features Kid Executioner)

In Thursday's video, Khalimov speaks in accented Russian while Tajik-language religious songs play. He identifies himself as a colonel in Tajikistan's special forces.

He claims he received training from Russian and American special forces in Moscow and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He also boasts about training by the U.S. private military contractor Blackwater.