The European Union on Monday included three commanders of Al-Qaeda jihadist movement in West Africa to the Union’s terrorist sanctions blacklist. The blacklisted Jihadists were identified to be operating in Mali and Burkina Faso. The EU will be imposing asset freezes and visa ban sanctions on the Jihadists.
According to the European Union,those included in the new asset freezes, and visa bans include Sidan Ag-Hitta and Salem ould Breihmatt, senior commanders within the UN-listed Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in Mali, as well as the branch Burkina Faso, Ansarul Islam, and its leader Jafar Dicko.
The EU highlighted: “The sanctioned group and individuals are responsible for several terrorist attacks, including against civilians, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali and defence and security forces in Burkina Faso.
“Their activities contribute to the expansion of the terrorist threat in Western Africa and therefore pose a serious and continued threat to the EU and to regional and international stability.”