The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday imposed sanctions on 16 entities and individuals for raising money and laundering money for the terrorist group al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab is an Islamist insurgent group with links to al-Qaida operating in Somalia.
The companies sanctioned in connection with the incidents are located in the Horn of Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, according to a Treasury Department statement.
Those subject to sanctions will have all U.S. assets frozen, and Americans will be prohibited from working with them.
In 2022, the United States imposed similar sanctions on other individuals with ties to Al-Shabaab.
The U.S.-designated terrorist group has been waging an insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 and has taken control of parts of the country, launching deadly terror attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab raises money by extorting businesses in Mogadishu and collecting taxes in areas it controls.
In January 2023, the Somali government said it had shut down the financial infrastructure supporting al-Shabaab. At the time, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said his government had closed all accounts known to be linked to the militants.
However, the group continues to operate by taking cash from businesses in government-controlled areas.
Washington said al-Shabaab makes more than $100 million a year through its financial network and extortion of local businesses and people.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Monday that the threat from terrorist groups “is not limited to Somalia.”
He added that al-Shabaab funds other al-Qaeda-linked groups, which helps them “carry out acts of terrorism and undermine global ambitions of good governance.”
Some of the information in this report comes from Reuters. VOA’s Mohammed Oulad Hassan contributed.
