By Chris Muhizi for MCN
In its most recent anti-terrorism step, the US Department of Treasury on Thursday named a significant Somalian financier of the extremist group ISIS.
The statement reads, “Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) imposed sanctions on Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf, designating him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) and designating him as the head of the finance office of the Somalia-based affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
In accordance to the US, Yusuf has been instrumental in the transfer of foreign fighters, supplies, and weapons on behalf of ISIS-Somalia, which serves as a focal point for distributing money and direction to ISIS branches and networks across the continent.
According to the Treasury Department, Yusuf has been in charge of the ISIS-Somalia revenue division, and the organization uses the funds raised to fund violent extremism throughout Africa.
“Terrorist organizations, and ISIS-Somalia in particular, try to take advantage of institutional weaknesses to fund their operations. As stated by Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, “the sanctions imposed today demonstrate the US commitment to leveraging our authorities in support of our partners, including the Federal Government of Somalia, in their efforts to counter terrorist financing and strengthen national and regional stability and security.
According to the US, ISIS-Somalia generated an estimated $2.5 million in revenue in 2021, and the organization continues to be one of ISIS’s most important affiliates in Africa, earning income to distribute to branches and networks across the continent.
Since 2019, Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf, 41, has led the finance department of ISIS-Somalia.
ISIS-Somalia made close to $2 million in the first half of 2022 through extorting money from neighborhood companies, associated imports, livestock, and agricultural industries.
ISIS-Somalia has taken control of Puntland State and has expanded its operations to Bosaso, a significant trade hub along the Indian Ocean.
ISIS’s conflict with the Al Shabaab organization, a close partner of Al Qaeda, resulted in some of its efforts in Somalia being neutralized.
ISIS leaders and a transnational network that trafficked weapons between Somalia and other countries were designated by Ofac in November.
Suhayl Salim Abd El-Rahman, also known as Bilal al-Sudani, the ISIS leader based in Somalia, was targeted and killed by US military action in January. Yusuf was subsequently designated.