The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned 16 entities and individuals Monday for their role in fundraising and money laundering for the terrorist group al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab, which operates in Somalia, is an Islamist insurgency group with connections to al-Qaida.
Those sanctioned in connection with them were operating throughout the Horn of Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, according to a Treasury statement.
Those sanctioned will have all U.S. assets frozen, and Americans will be barred from working with them.
In 2022, similar sanctions were imposed by the United States on other individuals connected with al-Shabab.
The U.S.-designated terror group has been waging an insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 and has controlled parts of the country, carrying out deadly terrorist attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab has funded itself by extorting businesses in Mogadishu and collecting taxes in the areas under its control.
In January 2023, the Somali government said it had shut down the financial infrastructure that supported al-Shabab. At the time, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said his government had closed every known account connected with the militants.
However, the group has continued to function by taking cash from businesses in government-controlled areas.
Washington says al-Shabab brings in more than $100 million each year from their financial network and through extorting local businesses and people.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Monday the terror group’s threat is not “limited to Somalia.”
He added al-Shabab funds other al-Qaida-linked groups, which helps their “global ambitions to commit acts of terrorism and undermine good governance.”
Some information for this report came from Reuters. VOA’s Mohamed Olad Hassan contributed.
