Saturday-16-March, 2024 {HMC} The Central Bank of Somalia has informed the country’s banks to freeze the funds of 16 individuals and companies that the United States has imposed restrictions on.
In a letter sent by the bank to licensed commercial banks, he instructed them to stop any previous business relationship and close the business accounts of these individuals, in order to consider the management of Terrorist Financing risks.
The sanctions targeted 16 organizations and individuals in the Horn of Africa region, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.
They are accused of raising funds for the Al-Shabaab group operating in Somalia.
Their names were not disclosed, however, the United States said that their assets in the United States were frozen to stop their dealings with the Al-Shabaab group.
The United States says it considers al-Shabaab a terrorist group that earns more than 100 million dollars a year, including extortion money from local businesses.
“The threat of al-Shabaab is not limited to Somalia alone,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. “Al-Shabaab’s finances are distributed to other groups affiliated with al-Qaeda around the world,” he added.
The United States has said that Al-Shabaab helps fund al-Qaeda’s ambitions to undermine good governance in the world.
