The United States imposes sanctions on 4 people involved in financing the Islamic State

On Tuesday, the United States of America imposed sanctions on four people for financing and arming the extremist Islamic State organization in South Africa, so that it could expand its operations on the African continent.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that it had blocked the property and prohibited economic dealings in the United States linked to Farhad Homer, Siraj Miller, Abdullah Hussain Abadega and Peter Mbaga.

Siraj Miller and Farhad Homer, according to the US administration, respectively lead the cells of the Islamic State in South Africa in Cape Town and Durban, and Abdullah Hussein Abadiga also trained Al-Shabab and also maintained contacts with the extremist group in Somalia. Peter Mbaga raised money and weapons for South Africa and Mozambique.

Farhad Homer managed to raise funds for the Durban cell through corporate extortion and maintained contacts with members of the Islamic State in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Siraj Miller trained the extremist group’s supporters to raise money through burglaries.

In a statement, US Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson said the sanctions adopted were aimed at “exposing those who use South Africa’s financial system to facilitate the financing of Islamic State networks across Africa.”

According to the US Treasury, “the Islamic State has attempted to expand its influence in Africa through large-scale operations, particularly in areas where government control is limited.”