The US government has designated Myrna Mabanza, an Islamic State facilitator based in the Philippines, as a terrorist. The Treasury Department identifies Mabanza as a woman in her mid-20s who has worked with some of the Islamic State’s most senior personnel in Southeast Asia and has also served as an “intermediary” to jihadists in Syria.
Jihadists and Islamists in Syria have denounced the US government’s decision to designate Katibat Imam al Bukhari (KIB) as a terrorist organization. The KIB’s own statement on the designation includes misleading claims and some of those defending the group have their own al Qaeda links.
The State Department announced today announced today that seven ISIS-affiliated groups have been designated as terrorist organizations. Underscoring the so-called caliphate’s growth outside of Iraq and Syria, the move targets ISIS affiliates in Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Somalia, Tunisia and West Africa. Two ISIS leaders in Africa were named as specially designated global terrorists as well.
The US Treasury Department has further exposed the Islamic State’s international network by designating three facilitators as terrorists. The men have operated in the Philippines, Somalia, Turkey and elsewhere. One of them operates a business in Turkey that has acquired drone components for the so-called caliphate.
The US Treasury Department designated three jihadist facilitators who work for Sheikh Aminullah, a key al Qaeda and Taliban facilitator based in Peshawar, Pakistan. All three have allegedly facilitated Aminullah’s travels to the Gulf, where he has presumably raised funds. Two of the newly-sanctioned jihadists have been tied to operations in Afghanistan.
The US Treasury Department and several Gulf States announced today that eight jihadists in Yemen have been designated as terrorists. The newly-sanctioned terrorists serve either the Islamic State’s Yemeni branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or both.
On Aug. 29, the Treasury Department announced that Salim Mustafa Muhammad al-Mansur had been added to the US government’s list of specially designated global terrorists. The move was made in conjunction with the Iraqi government. Al-Mansur served as the Islamic State’s “finance emir for Mosul,” Iraq as of earlier this year, but he has “moved to Turkey.”
CENTCOM announced today that Fawaz Muhammad Jubayr al-Rawi, a “finance emir” for the Islamic State, was killed in an airstrike in eastern Syria earlier this month. Last year, the US and Iraqi governments jointly targeted Rawi and his financial network, which handled millions of dollars for the so-called caliphate.
On June 15, the State Department designated three Islamic State operatives as terrorists. The designations underscore the global nature of the self-declared caliphate’s threat, as two of the men have been responsible for a number of plots in Europe and India. The third has repeatedly attempted to convince his fellow Bahrainis to join the group’s cause.