The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated 4 members of an ISIS cell believed to be operating in South Africa. The four individuals were accused of having provided technical, financial, or material support to the terrorist group. Additionally, OFAC designated eight companies owned, controlled, or directed by the individuals in this ISIS cell.
At the end of October, the U.S. Embassy in South Africa issued a rare warning of a possible terror attack in Sandton, an upmarket business district of Johannesburg sometimes dubbed “Africa’s richest square mile.” According to the statement from the US at the time, it revealed that there was information that indicated terrorists may have been planning to conduct an attack targeting large gatherings of people at an unspecified location in the greater Sandton area.
Farhad Hoomer’s Associates And Businesses
- Nufael Akbar and Yunus Mohamad Akbar
Farhad is the ISIS cell leader in South Africa and continues to pursue ISIS’s objectives in southern Africa. He alongside some associates have the intent to attack the interests of the United States and its allies.
Brothers Nufael Akbar and Yunus Mohamad Akbar are senior members of a Durban, South Africa-based ISIS cell led by Farhad Hoomer. Intelligence indicates that Nufael Akbar is a central commanding figure in the Durban-based ISIS cell. Yunus Akbar functions as an enforcer and logistical coordinator for the ISIS cell.
- Mohamad Akbar and Umar Akbar
In addition, two other associates of Hoomer; Mohamad Akbar and Umar Akbar, who were arrested in 2018 by South African authorities along with Hoomer for their involvement in a plan to deploy improvised incendiary devices near a mosque and commercial retail buildings.
OFAC is also designating four south Africa-based companies in connection with Nufael Akbar and Yunus Mohamad Akbar.
- MA Gold Traders (PTY) LTD- the company is associated with Nufael Akbar and has been designated as being owned, controlled or directed by Nufael.
- Bailey Holdings (PTY) LTD- the company has been designated as being owned, controlled or directed by Yunus Mohamad Akbar
- Flexoseal Waterproofing Solutions (PTY) LTD- the company has been designated as being owned, controlled or directed by Yunus Mohamad Akbar
- HJ Bannister Construction CC- the company has been designated for being jointly owned, controlled, or directed by Nufael Akbar and Yunus Mohamad Akbar.
Additionally, 4 South Africa-based companies have also been designated by OFAC for being owned, controlled, or directed by Farhad Hoomer and they include
- Sultans Construction CC
- Ashiq Jewellers CC
- Ineos Trading (PTY) LTD
- Shaahista Shoes CC
Earlier in 2022, the US government listed Farhad Hoomer, Siraaj Miller, Abdella Hussein Abadigga, and Peter Charles Mbanga, adding that ISIS members and associates in South Africa were playing a role in facilitating the transfer of funds from the top of the ISIS hierarchy to branches across Africa.
Therefore, the sanctions are in line with the same as well as growing reports that the ISIS terror network in South Africa has been channeling funds to Mozambique where violence in the northern Province of Cabo Delgado has been raging and expanding into a majority of the district. The sanctions are expected to play a part in curtailing the group’s capability to acquire resources as well as fighter morale and hopefully give the SAMIM and other allied forces an upper-hand in ridding the province of the violent extremist who are getting brazen every day.
