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WASHINGTON: The US State Department has designated four al-Qaeda/IS and TTP leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) for their leadership roles in their respective groups.
In a statement released here, the US State Dept says “the United States is committed to using its full set of counterterrorism tools to counter the threat posed by terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan, including al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as part of our relentless efforts to ensure that terrorists do not use Afghanistan as a platform for international terrorism.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken too took to Twitter and announced the State Department designating four leaders of Afghanistan-based AQIS and TTP as SDGTs.
The United States is committed to countering the threat posed by terrorist groups in Afghanistan to ensure that terrorists do not use Afghanistan as a platform for international terrorism. @StateDept designated four leaders of Afghanistan-based AQIS and TTP.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 1, 2022
The State Department said that it designated four AQIS and TTP leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, for their leadership roles in their respective groups:
- Osama Mehmood is the emir of AQIS
- Atif Yahya Ghouri is the deputy emir of AQIS.
- Muhammad Maruf is responsible for AQIS’ recruiting branch.
- Qari Amjad is the deputy emir of TTP. He oversees operations and militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Qari Amjid aka Mufti Mazahim, the TTP deputy chief and head of the defence commission، who announced the resumption of attacks recently, appears at Number 4 on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated global terrorists.
As a result of these actions, all property and interests in property of those designated yesterday that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and all U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
Yesterday’s actions again demonstrate that we will continue to use all relevant tools to uphold our commitment to see to it that international terrorists are not able to operate with impunity in Afghanistan.”
