US slaps sanctions on Taliban, al Qaeda linked men, financing company

US sanctioned Pakistan-based hawala business of Haji Basir and Zarjmil Company and its owner.

WASHINGTON: The United States has imposed sanctions on four extremists including two Taliban members and two other men that it accuses of ties with al Qaeda and the Al-Nusra Front, alleging they financed and acted on behalf of the two terror groups. A Taliban financing company was also sanctioned.

The Treasury on Thursday placed sanctions on a Pakistan-based hawala, or money transfer business, Haji Basir and Zarjmil Company (Basir Zarjmil Hawala), and its owner, Haji Abdul Basir, for providing financial services or other support to the Taliban. The Treasury Department said the sanctions on the company were aimed at the financial networks of the Taliban.

Basir's business, based in Balochistan, allegedly distributes money to Taliban members in Afghanistan and has allegedly used Pakistani banks as a conduit for Taliban financing, the Treasury said.

Basir was considered to be the principal money exchanger for Taliban senior leadership in Pakistan from as far back as 2012.

The Treasury also placed sanctions on Qari Rahmat, allegedly a Taliban commander since at least February 2010 who the Treasury claim also collects taxes and bribes on behalf of the Taliban and supplies them with arms.

"The Taliban continues to conduct terrorist attacks against US forces and innocent civilians, posing a direct threat to US national security interests," claimed David Cohen, the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.

"We will continue to work to deprive terrorists of the funds necessary to sustain and perpetrate terrorist operations."

On Thursday, the US had also placed sanctions on Haqqani network leaders.

Two al Qaeda men sanctioned

Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Sharekh, allegedly the head of al Qaeda operations in Syria, and Hamid Hamad Hamid al-Ali were placed on a sanctions list by the United Nations Security Council on August 15. The Treasury's move on Friday to sanction came in support of the UN action.

Under the designation issued by the US Treasury, any assets of two men - Saudi and Kuwaiti nationals - under US jurisdiction are frozen and Americans are "generally prohibited from doing business with them."

"We are determined to stem the flow of funds to terrorists in Syria and Iraq who continue to commit violent acts and threaten US and allied interests in the region," David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

Al Sharekh, a Saudi citizen, is described as a Syria-based senior leader of the Al-Nusra Front, as well as a key al Qaeda facilitator, who moved to the war-torn country in the spring of 2013.

Listed as one of Saudi Arabia's most-wanted terrorists, he previously served as a "key financial facilitator" for the al Qaeda in Pakistan, according to the Treasury.

On the other hand, Al-Ali is accused of raising tens of thousands of dollars to help the Al-Nusra Front buy weapons and supplies and also directed donors in his native Kuwait to support the group.

The Treasury, saying he has called himself an "al Qaeda commando," also alleges al-Ali raised money for al Qaeda and arranged travel for a number of foreign fighters to Syria.

Earlier this month, the United States slapped sanctions on three other men, two of them Kuwaiti, accusing them of providing money, fighters and weapons to extremists in Iraq and Syria.