1:52 PM
Admin.
By Kristina Peterson
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday designated six individuals suspected of fueling violence and instability in Somalia.
Treasury targeted two Eritrean government officials, a Sudanese extremist based in Somalia and three Kenyan supporters of al-Shabaab, a group previously identified as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in February 2008. Thursday's actions followed an executive order issued in April 2010 to target individuals and groups engaging in acts that threaten peace, security or stability in Somalia, either directly or indirectly.
"The United States is determined to target those who are responsible for the ongoing bloodshed and instability in Somalia," Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Adam Szubin said in a statement. "By designating these individuals today we are taking action to support our partner governments in East Africa and the African Union Mission in Somalia in their efforts to dismantle al-Shabaab."
Treasury noted that the dispersal of the individuals across three countries highlighted "the regional nature of the conflict in Somalia."
The individuals targeted by the Treasury Department on Thursday include Col. Tewolde Habte Negash, an Eritrean intelligence officer; Col. Taeme Abraham Goitom, a senior government official in Eritrea; Suhayl Salim Abd-Ed-Rahman, a Somalia-based Sudanese extremist; Aboud Rogo Mohammed, an Islamic cleric based in Kenya; Omar Awadh Omar, a Kenyan national, and Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, also based in Kenya.