The US has labelled Ahmed Diriye and Mahad Karate, leaders of the Somali militant group Al Shabaab as terrorists.
According to a report that was released by the US state department on Tuesday, Diriye and Karate, both prominent leaders of the al Qaeda like group were blacklisted.
Diriye, who has been Al Shabaab’s leader since September last year and Karate, who has played a key role in the group’s intelligence wing, were blacklisted, the US state department stated.
This move means that the US will freeze any assets that Ahmed Diriye and Mahad Karate may have under US jurisdiction and ban Americans from engaging in any transaction with them.
The US blacklists Ahmed Diriye and Mahad Karate in the wake of a terrorist attack that targeted a UN vehicle in northeastern Somalia.
The attack, to which al Shabaab claimed responsibility, killed seven people, including four UN staff members working with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Al Shabaab is responsible for numerous terrorist activities, including the attack on Garissa University College in Kenya earlier this month, which killed 147 people and injured 70.
