...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...-based hawala business to transfer funds to finance ISIS-K operations over two years, the US said.
The US announced new sanctions on an operator for ISIS-K in Afghanistan on Monday, accusing him of operating a Turkey-based money-moving business.
"Ismatullah Khalozai has been an international financial controller for ISIS-K and has carried out missions for senior ISIS leadership," the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Khalozai operated a Turkey-based hawala business to transfer funds to finance ISIS-K operations over two years, the US said.
Before that, he allegedly ran a United Arab Emirates-based financing scheme, "which involved sending luxury items to international destinations for resale to generate funds in support of ISIS-K."
He is also accused of human trafficking and facilitating the movement of imported muscle "who seek to escalate tensions in Afghanistan and the region."
"The Biden Administration is committed to rooting out terrorist financing networks around the world," Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Andrea Gacki said. "Today’s designation underscores the United States’ determination to prevent ISIS-K and its members from exploiting the international financial system to support terrorist acts in Afghanistan and beyond."
Additionally, the State Department designated three ISIS-K leaders.
Sanaullah Ghafari, Sultan Aziz Azam, and Maulawi Rajab were designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).
Last week, the UN said ISIS had a presence in almost every Afghan province.
| Update from Tolo News at 10:10 a.m. ET: |
"Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, is ISIS-K’s current overall emir. He was appointed by the ISIS core to lead ISIS-K in June 2020. Ghafari is responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations," the statement reads.
ISIS spokesperson Sultan Aziz Azam is also blacklisted who, according to the statement, has been acting as ISIS’s spokesperson since the group's emergence in Afghanistan.
Maulawi Rajab, the leader of ISIS in Kabul province, has also been blacklisted. "Rajab plans ISIS-K’s attacks and operations and commands ISIS-K groups conducting attacks in Kabul," the statement reads.