US targets al Shabaab fundraisers, money launderers with sanctions

By REUTERS

MARCH 11, 2024 18:19

A Somali security officer walks past a section of Hotel Hayat, the scene of an al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group militant attack in Mogadishu, Somalia August 20, 2022. (photo credit: REUTERS/FEISAL OMAR) — A Somali security officer walks past a section of Hotel Hayat, the scene of an al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group militant attack in Mogadishu, Somalia August 20, 2022.

(photo credit: REUTERS/FEISAL OMAR)

US Treasury imposes sanctions on al Shabaab's global money-laundering network, targeting 16 entities across regions, hindering terrorism financing.

The US Treasury Department on Monday imposed sanctions on what it said was an international fundraising and money-laundering network for the al Shabaab militant group operating in Somalia.

The sanctions targeted 16 entities and individuals across the Horn of Africa region, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus, the Treasury said in a statement.

The action, which follows US sanctions against a separate network linked to al Shabaab in October 2022, freezes any US assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.

An image distributed by al Shabaab after the attack on a military base in Kenya shows Somalia's al Shabaab militant group's flag, said to be at the Manda Bay Airfield in Manda, Lamu, Kenya January 5, 2020. (credit: AL-SHABAAB/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

It said al Shabaab, which Washington considers a terrorist group, generates over $100 million a year, including by extorting local businesses.

Insurgance against the Somali government

Al Shabaab, linked to al Qaeda, has been waging an insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 in a bid to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

"The threat posed by al-Shabaab is not limited to Somalia," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. "Al-Shabaab’s revenues are disbursed to other al-Qa'ida-linked groups worldwide and help fund al-Qa’ida’s global ambitions to commit acts of terrorism and undermine good governance."