Washington, Jan. 26 (TNS): The United States imposed sanctions on six men said to be linked to the Afghan Taliban and the ‘Haqqani Network’, less than a month after President Donald Trump ordered cuts in security aid to Pakistan over its alleged failure to crack down on terrorists, American media reported on Friday.
The designation of ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’ announced by the US Treasury Department bars the six individuals, including at least one Pakistani national, from accessing the US financial system.
“This action supports the president’s South Asia strategy by disrupting these terrorist organisations and publicly exposing individuals who facilitate their activities,” said Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Four of the individuals – Abdul Samad Sani, Abdul Qadeer Basir Abdul Baseer, Hafiz Mohammed Popalzai, and Maulawi Inayatullah – were designated for acting on behalf of the Taliban, while the remaining two – Faqir Muhammad and Gula Khan Hamidi – were sanctioned for acting on behalf of the Haqqani Network, the US Treasury Department stated.
The press release by the treasury department further stated that the “Pakistani government must work with us to deny the Taliban and the Haqqani Network sanctuary and to aggressively target their terrorist fundraising”.
While unlikely to cause many problems for its targets, the move further underlines Washington’s frustration with Islamabad for providing sanctuary and other aid to the insurgent groups.
