Wednesday August 21, 2024
By Dominic Giannini
Australia has sanctioned 20 Somali members of designated terrorist organisation Al Shabaab.
The sanctions largely target senior leaders.
They stem from a United Nations Security Council resolution and subsequent committee targeting Al Shabaab urging members to put in place an arms embargo, travel bans and asset freezes.
It also prohibited the import of charcoal from Somalia.
The Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group was blamed by the Somali government for killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds more during an explosion at a beach restaurant in the capital Mogadishu in early August.
Militants from the group also captured a UN helicopter carrying out a medical evacuation after it made an emergency landing in central Somalia in January, Reuters reported.
American forces killed leader senior leader Maalim Ayman in an operation with the Somali army in December 2023.
He was responsible for planning terrorist attacks in Somalia and nearby countries, a Somalian minister said at the time when confirming the operation.
with Reuters
