Dept. of Treasury takes aim at key al-Nusrah Front leaders

The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently took proactive steps to disrupt al-Nusrah Front’s military, recruitment and financing operations.

OFAC blocked all property and interests in property of four key al-Nusrah Front leaders — Abdallah Muhammad Bin-Sulayman al-Muhaysini, Jamal Husayn Zayniyah, Abdul Jashari, and Ashraf Ahmad Fari al-Allak — pursuant to an executive order that targets terrorists and those providing support for acts of terrorism.  

“From recruiting fighters to raising funds, these sanctioned individuals are responsible for providing key financial and logistical support to al-Nusrah Front,” Acting OFAC Director John Smith said. “Treasury will continue to target al-Nusrah Front’s financial networks and choke off their access to the international financial system.”

OFAC’s actions were taken in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, which named Jabhat Fath al Sham as an alias of al-Nusrah Front, al-Qa’ida’s affiliate in Syria.

In late 2015, al-Muhaysini was deemed a member of al-Nusrah Front’s inner leadership circle.

In the same time period, it became known that Zayniyah was al-Nusrah Front’s emir of al-Qalamun, Syria and Lebanon. Zayniyah was also responsible for planning multiple operations in al-Qalamun and Lebanon.

During the summer of 2015, Jashari led al-Nusrah Front’s military operations in northern Syria.

As recently as April 2016, al-Allak was an al-Nusrah Front military commander in Dara Province, Syria.