The United States has welcomed the decision of the United Nations Security Council\u2019s 1267 al-Qa\u2019ida and ISIL (Da\u2019esh) Sanctions Committee on February 23, 2020.<\/p>\n
The UN added ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA or ISWAP) and ISIS-Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) to its terrorist designations list.<\/p>\n
ISWAP, the ISIS affiliate in West Africa, has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n
Some of its leaders and members broke out from the Boko Haram sect a few years ago.<\/p>\n
State Department spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, on Wednesday recalled that the U.S. designated ISIS-WA and ISIS-GS as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under on May 23, 2018 and February 28, 2018, respectively.<\/p>\n
Ortagus, in a statement, noted that ISIS-WA is responsible for killing hundreds of innocent civilians in dozens of attacks since its inception in 2015.<\/p>\n
The statement lamented that ISIS-GS also carried out numerous attacks since its formation in 2015, including the October 2017 attack that killed four U.S. soldiers in Niger Republic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis UN designation obligates all member states to implement an arms embargo, a global travel ban, and asset freeze on ISIS-WA and ISIS-GS, actions that will cut the groups off from the resources they need to continue their terrorist activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. stated that the designation is a necessary step in the global fight to defeat ISIS.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the complete liberation of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS affiliates around the world remain a significant terrorist threat, including in Africa, and the international community must work together to deny them the resources they seek.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States remains fully engaged with our African partners to address security challenges and to advance peace and security on the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigerian forces killed three ISWAP leaders this month.<\/p>\n
Recently too, ISWAP appointed Amir Abba-Gana as the new leader.<\/p>\n
But Abba-Gana leads a faction, a sign that the sect was not currently united.<\/p>\n
The terrorist emerged after the sect executed a top leader, Ba\u2019a Idirisa, on February 9, 2019.<\/p>\n
Ba\u2019a Idirisa had replaced Abu-Mossad Albarnawee, a few months ago after infighting.<\/p>\n
Both are biological children of late Boko Haram founder, Muhammad Yusuf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States has welcomed the decision of the United Nations Security Council\u2019s 1267 al-Qa\u2019ida and ISIL (Da\u2019esh) Sanctions Committee on February 23, 2020. The UN added ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA or ISWAP) and ISIS-Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) to its terrorist designations list. ISWAP, the ISIS affiliate in West Africa, has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and neighbouring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":18152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[45,718],"class_list":["post-21923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-boko-haram","tag-iswap"],"yoast_head":"\n