In a bid to choke off financial and other support to terrorists, the US on Thursday slapped sanctions on prominent Taliban financers and commanders of the Haqqani terror network, linked by Washington with the Pakistani spy agency ISI.
The individuals slapped sanctions are Hajji Faizullah Noorzai, a prominent Taliban financer, his brother Hajji Malik Noorzai; Abdur Rehman, a Taliban facilitator; and Fazal Rahim, a financer of al-Qaeda.
The Department of Treasury named Abdul Aziz Abbasin as a key commander in the Haqqani Network who, as of early 2010, received orders from and was appointed by Sirajuddin Haqqani to serve as the Taliban shadow governor of Orgun District, Paktika Province, Afghanistan.
"These financiers and facilitators provide the fuel for the Taliban, Haqqani Network and al-Qaeda to realize their violent aspirations," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen.
“That is why we are taking these actions today and will continue our relentless efforts to choke off streams of financial and other support to terrorists,” he underlined.
As a result of today’s action, US companies and individuals are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with the targeted individuals, and any assets they may hold under US jurisdiction are frozen, the Department of Treasury said in a statement.
According to the Treasury, Faizullah has served as a prominent Taliban financier with whom senior Taliban leaders invested funds. He has collected more than $100,000 for the Taliban from donors in the Gulf and in 2009 gave a portion of his own money to the Taliban. In addition to his financial support, Faizullah has facilitated Taliban training and operations.
Prior to his arrest in May 2010 by Pakistani authorities, Fazal Rahim was a financial facilitator for al-Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a designated terrorist organisation.
Faizullah financially supported a Taliban commander in Kandahar province, Afghanistan and has provided funding to assist with training Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters who were to conduct attacks against coalition and Afghan military forces. As of mid-2009, Faizullah supplied weapons, ammunition, explosives, and medical equipment to Taliban fighters from southern Afghanistan.
In mid-2008, Faizullah was responsible for housing Taliban suicide bombers and moving them from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Faizullah has also provided anti-aircraft missiles to the Taliban, helped move Taliban fighters around Helmand Province, Afghanistan, facilitated Taliban suicide bombing operations and has given radios and vehicles to Taliban members in Pakistan. He also operated a madrassa near the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, where tens of thousands of dollars were raised for the Taliban.
Faizullah's madrassa grounds were used to provide training to Taliban fighters in the construction and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and as of late 2007, his madrassa was used to train al-Qaeda fighters who were later sent to Kandahar Province. Hajji Malik Noorzai (Malik), is a Pakistan-based businessman who, with his brother Faizullah, has invested millions of dollars in various businesses for the Taliban.
Since 2005, Malik has personally contributed tens of thousands of dollars and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Taliban, some of which was collected from donors in the Gulf region and Pakistan and some of which was Malik’s own money. He also handled a hawala account in Pakistan that received tens of thousands of dollars transferred from the Gulf every few months to support Taliban activities.
Malik, along with his brother, has also played a role in storing vehicles to be used in Taliban suicide bombing operations and has helped move Taliban fighters around Helmand province. As early as 2005, he owned a vehicle import business in Afghanistan that imported vehicles from Dubai and Japan.
In mid-2010, Malik and his brother secured the release of hundreds of cargo containers, reportedly worth millions of dollars, which Pakistani authorities seized earlier that year because they believed the recipients had a connection to terrorism.
Abdur Rehman has served as a Taliban facilitator since at least 2008, and as of mid-2009. As a Taliban fundraiser, both he and his organization – a religious school in Karachi, Pakistan, and center for recruiting, indoctrinating, meeting, and facilitating funding for militants – were directly linked to supporting the Taliban.
Rehman has also provided facilitation and financial services to al-Qaeda. Rehman has housed al-Qaeda facilitators in Pakistan and has been used by al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders to pass information to each other.
In early 2009, he travelled on behalf of an al-Qaeda facilitator to move funds for the Taliban and militants in Pakistan. In early 2007, Rehman planned to facilitate the movement of $1 million from an al-Qaeda facilitator in the Gulf to Pakistan, where it would be used to finance al-Qaeda and Taliban suicide attacks and terrorist operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also maintained ties with three additional designated terrorist organizations: Harakat ul-Jihad Islami (HUJI), Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) and al-Akhtar Trust (AAT).