• Two of the groups were Bahrain-based terrorist militias receiving support from Iran
• The designation action marks the 5th year of coordinated TFTC sanctions actions targeting terrorist financing

Member states of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), including Saudi Arabia, have unanimously named 13 people and three entities as being linked to terrorist organizations.

The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary of the TFTC, which has targeted terrorist financing activities to strengthen the regional capabilities of member states.

A statement from the Saudi Presidency of State Security said three of the individuals were connected to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, four people and a company were found to be connected to Daesh, and six people were connected to financing Boko Haram. The statement on Twitter also designated two groups — Saraya Al-Ashtar and Saraya Al-Mukhtar — as terrorist groups.

The classification is an extension of member states’ commitment to continue achieving the center’s goals.

It also sends a message to the international community about the fruitful cooperation between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the US in targeting terrorist financing activities through the multilateral entity.

TFTC was organized by GCC member states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — and the United States to counter regional money laundering and terrorist financing networks.

The individuals named in the TFTC list are Lebanese national Ali Al-Qusayer, Iranian nationals Miqdad Amini and Murtada Minai for their connection with the Al-Quds force, which is working under the Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah, Afghan national Esmatullah Khaluzi for his connection with Daesh operations in Khorasan, and Syrian national Alaa Khanfurah for his Daesh connection.

There are also six Nigerian nationals on the list: Abdurrahman Adu Musa, Salihu Youssef Admu, Bashir Ali Youssef, Mohammed Ibrahim Issa, Ibrahim Ali Al-Hasan, and Suraju AbuBakr Mohammed. The six, operating for Boko Haram, set up a cell in the UAE to raise money for the group.

Syrians Baraa Al-Qaterji and Hussam Rushdi Al-Qaterji, who established Al-Qaterji Co., were named for facilitating fuel trade for Daesh and cooperating with terrorist organizations such as the Revolutionary Guards.

The statement said that Saraya Al-Ashtar and Saraya Al-Mukhtar were Bahrain-based terrorist militias receiving financial, military, and logistic support from the Revolutionary Guards.

A separate press statement by the US Department of Treasury on Monday said Saraya al-Mukhtar’s self-described goal is “to pave the way for Iran to exert greater influence in Bahrain and beyond.”

“The group has plotted attacks against US personnel in Bahrain and has repeatedly offered cash rewards for the assassination of Bahraini officials,” it added.

Saraya al-Ashtar, also known as al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB), “has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against police and security targets in Bahrain,” the statement said, adding that the group “also calls for violence against the Bahraini, British, Saudi Arabian, and US governments on social media.”

TFTC has coordinated six stages of joint classification against 82 individuals and terrorist entities since its establishment in 2017.

These classifications have targeted Daesh and its affiliates, Al-Qaeda, the Revolutionary Guards, and Hezbollah militia.

The TFTC said the classifications targeted the disruption of terrorist financing and it would continue coordinating actions and efforts to disrupt this type of funding, enhance intelligence coordination to uncover terrorist financing, and build member states’ capacity to target activities that posed a threat to their national security.

It said the system of combating terrorist crimes and their financing meant that all funds and assets belonging to the people or entities named in the classifications must be frozen and that it was prohibited to carry out any direct or indirect dealings with them whether for their benefit or on their behalf.

Source: AN