The United States on Thursday announced it was designating South AsianAl-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders as terrorists, vowing action asalarms grow over Afghanistan.
The targeted jihadists including four leaders of Al-Qaeda in the IndianSubcontinent (AQIS), a regional branch of the jihadist network, includingits self-styled “emir” Osama Mehmood.
The United States also designated the number two of the Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP), Mufti Hazrat Deroji, also known as Qari Amjad, whose15-year campaign of violence has stepped up since the Taliban seizedcontrol in neighboring Afghanistan last year.
US officials say Deroji has overseen operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, oneof two border areas that have borne the brunt of violent attacks.
The designations are “part of our relentless efforts to ensure thatterrorists do not use Afghanistan as a platform for internationalterrorism,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“We will continue to use all relevant tools to uphold our commitment to seeto it that international terrorists are not able to operate with impunityin Afghanistan,” Blinken said.
The State Department and Treasury Department listed the four as SpeciallyDesignated Global Terrorists, making it a crime in the United States toengage in transactions with them and blocking any assets they have in thecountry.
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President Joe Biden withdrew US troops from Afghanistan after two decades,saying that no more could be achieved and that the United States couldfight militants without boots on the ground.
The United States on July 31 fired two missiles that killed Al-Qaeda’sleader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had moved into Kabul.
The United States accused the Taliban of violating assurances it would notoffer sanctuary to Al-Qaeda — the initial trigger for the invasion afterthe September 11, 2001 attacks — although the Taliban separately have beenat odds with the even more extreme Islamic State group.
The founder of AQIS, Asim Umar, was killed in a September 2019 raid inAfghanistan’s Helmand province jointly conducted by US forces and the thengovernment. APP/ AFP
