Urges similar action on three additional ISIS leaders
(New York, NY) – The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) today applauded U.S. government action taken against five ISIS operatives, while at the same time urging that three additional leaders be similarly designated.
Since January 1, the U.S. Treasury and State Departments have named five ISIS operatives Specially Designated Global Terrorists, continuing the fight to disrupt the extremist group’s global fundraising, propaganda, and support network. The sanctions freeze any U.S. property designated individuals may own, impose travel restrictions, and prohibit financial transactions with U.S. citizens.
At the same time, CEP is urging similar action be taken against:
Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, the new ISIS spokesperson; Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the new ISIS-appointed leader of affiliate Boko Haram; and Abdul Qadr al-Najdi, the ISIS leader in Libya.
The ISIS designees announced since January 1 include:
- Neil Prakash, an Australian recruiter and propagandist notorious for his extremist Twitter presence. Prakash is currently being detained in Turkey.
- Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian executioner and propagandist. Sharrouf became infamous in 2014 when he posted on Twitter a photo of his seven-year-old son holding the severed heads of executed ISIS victims.
- Bachrumsyah Mennor Usman, an Indonesian ISIS commander, recruiter, and fundraiser based in Syria.
- Aman Abdurrahman, a.k.a. Oman Rochman, an Indonesian ideologue who—from prison—serves as the de-facto leader of ISIS supporters in Indonesia. Abdurrahman is serving a nine-year prison term for a 2010 terrorism conviction.
- Alexanda Amon Kotey, a British foreign fighter and recruiter for ISIS and a former member of a beheading squad dubbed “the Beatles,” to which Mohammed Emwazi a.k.a. Jihadi John, also belonged. Kotey is still at large in Syria. Emwazi was killed by a drone strike in November 2015.
The full biographies of these individuals can be explored on the Terrorists and Extremists Database, a searchable directory containing biographical information on more than 400 of the world’s most dangerous extremist leaders, propagandists, operatives, and financiers.