President Trump’s Treasury Department imposed sanctions on three individuals who work with terrorist groups throughout Pakistan, continuing the effort to implement a new U.S. strategy for the region.
“Treasury continues to aggressively pursue and expose radicals who support terrorist organizations and run illicit financial networks across South Asia,” under secretary Sigal Mandelker, who handles terrorism and financial intelligence issues, said Wednesday.
“We are targeting operatives who have provided logistical support, improvised explosive devices, and other technological assistance to al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups.”
The three individuals targeted for sanctions all have a connection to terrorist operations in Pakistan, an American ally with a particularly complicated relationship with the U.S. Rahman Zeb Faqhir Muhammed was blacklisted for providing material support to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a terrorist group based in Pakistan that coordinates with the Taliban and also launches against India. The second individual, Hizb Ullah Astam Khan, has a history of building improvised-explosive devices in Afghanistan and coordinating another terrorist leader’s travel throughout the region. The third individual, Dilawar Khan Nadir Khan, also works with that terrorist leader to arrange operations with the Taliban and LeT.
“This is part of this administration’s broader efforts to disrupt terrorist fundraising, and we call on the Pakistani government and others in the region to work with us to deny sanctuary to these dangerous individuals and organizations,” Mandelker said.
The sanctions freeze any of the terrorists’ assets within U.S. jurisdiction and lock them out of the American financial system. They’re part of the effort to root terrorism out of Pakistan, which functioned as a home base for fighters launching attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
“Since the announcement of the South Asia Strategy in August, Pakistan has taken some positive steps,” Randall Shriver, an assistant secretary of defense, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. “The steps to date, however, do not reflect the type of decisive action that is necessary to restore regional stability.”
