UPDATE: US Imposes Sanctions On 4 Individuals In Afghanistan - Treasury

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2021) The United States has added four Afghan men to its Designated Global Terrorists list, including Ismatullah Khalozai who was designated as a key financial facilitator for the branch of the Islamic State (banned in Russia) in Afghanistan, the US Treasury Department said on Monday.

"Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Ismatullah Khalozai, an individual who has acted as a financial facilitator for the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIL-Khorasan), active in Afghanistan and commonly referred to as "ISIS-K," the Treasury Department said in a press release.

Three more individuals, Sultan Aziz Azam, Sanaullah Ghafari, Maulawi Rajab, were also added to the Specially Designated Global Terrorists list, the release said.

The US government alleges that Ismatullah Khalozai was transferring funds to finance Islamic State-Khorasan operations from Turkey for a period of two years. Khalozai previously used a United Arab Emirates-based scheme to sell luxury items in order to generate funds to support the terror group, the release added.

Khalozai has also been involved in human smuggling operations for the benefit of Islamic State-Khorasan, including personally smuggling a courier from Afghanistan to Turkey, according to the release.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement that Ghafari is the current overall emir of the Islamic State-Khorasan who is responsible for approving all of the terror group's operations in Afghanistan.

Azam has held the position of spokesperson since the terror group came to Afghanistan, while Rajab is a senior leader in Kabul province and has planned attacks on the Afghan capital, Blinken said.

US citizens are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the designated persons and the latter's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, he added.