The Dead Militant in the Photo? The Wrong Guy, and He’s Not Happy

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — After an airstrike killed a prominent recruiter for the Islamic State in Afghanistan last week, the Afghan spy agency issued a triumphant news release announcing his death and providing a picture of a man it identified as the wanted militant, Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim.

Unfortunately, the spy agency sent news organizations a photograph of the wrong man. And not just any wrong man, but one who was struggling to lie low as he readjusted to life at home after 12 years of detention at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba: a Kandahar resident named Shawali Khan.

Taimoor Shah reported from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Joseph Goldstein from Kabul. Azam Ahmed contributed reporting from Kabul.

The New York Times