US slaps sanctions on Pakistan-based terror facilitators

The US has imposed sanctions on three Pakistan-based terrorist facilitators who are helping the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

The three -- Maulvi Adam Khan Achekzai, Aamir Ali Chaudhry and Qari Ayyub Bashir -- have been designated for providing material, logistical and financial support to the three designated organisations, according to a statement issued by the US Treasury Department.

The sanctions will freeze any assets under US jurisdiction held by the three individuals, and will prohibit any US citizens from engaging in transactions with Chaudhry, Achekzai and Bashir.

Achekzai and Chaudhry have been involved in the production of improvised and other explosive devices. Bashir has been accused of coordinating financial support for IMU's operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the statement added.

Chaudhry from the TTP has been described as an electronics and explosives expert who advised "a TTP facilitator on fertiliser selection for the bomb used in the failed May 2010 attack in New York's Times Square", it said.

"Chaudhry has also been involved in attack planning for TTP. As of mid-2010, Chaudhry was involved in a TTP plan to conduct a rocket attack against the Pakistani parliament building and was leading TTP's efforts to develop a chemical poison, the statement added.

"In early 2010, Chaudhry was working on a TTP plot to detonate explosives on an aircraft and had been working on a plan to use an airliner in an attack. In addition, Chaudhry volunteered to conduct a suicide operation in support of TTP during this period," it said.

Announcing the sanctions, the US under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David S. Cohen said: "Today's actions are intended to disrupt the activities of three individuals working to carry out violent attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that threaten the lives of civilians and military forces."

"As these designations demonstrate, we will continue to work to dismantle the terrorist support networks operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, paying special attention to those involved in the manufacture of IEDs