Dapchi Girls: Boko Haram Leader Al-Barnawi Added To Global Terror Watch-list

The United States Treasury Department has added Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, factional leader of the Boko Haram sect, to its sanctions list for global terrorism.

In a statement on Tuesday, the treasury’s office of foreign assets control (OFAC) said it included two individuals and seven organisations in Africa and Asia to the list.

Al-Barnawi, who was named the new leader of Boko Haram by the Islamic State in August 2016, is alleged to be the mastermind behind the abduction 110 students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state.

OFAC listed the seven groups added to the list as ISIS-Bangladesh, ISIS-Egypt, ISIS-Philippines, ISIS-Somalia, ISIS-West Africa, Jund al-Khilafah-Tunisia, also known as ISIS-Tunisia, and Islamic State of Lanao, in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said it has also designated 40 Islamic State leaders and operatives dating back to 2011 under an order aimed at denying them access to the US financial system.

“These designations are part of a larger comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS that, in coordination with the 75-member Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, has made significant progress toward that goal,” the statement read.

It explained that the move is aimed at “destroying ISIS in its safe havens, denying its ability to recruit foreign terrorist fighters, and stifling its financial resources”.

The plan according to the Department would also help in “negating the false propaganda it (ISIS) disseminates over the internet and social media, and helping to stabilise liberated areas in Iraq and Syria so the displaced can rebuild their lives”.