Matrix Report
On the eve of the 9/11 the US President Donald Trump signed (September 10) an Executive Order, designating 12 leaders of previously Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) groups as well as Hurras al-Din, an al-Qa’ida-affiliated group in Syria. Officials called the latest order as the most significant update of terrorist designation authorities since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Among those declared as global terrorists is Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, the successor to Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Mullah Fazlullah, who was killed in eastern Afghanistan in March last year. Mehsud became the TTP chief in June 2018. The TTP has been on the run ever since the Pakistan army launched its operation Zarbe Azb in June 2014 in the North Waziristan region.
Fazlullah was the last big TTP name that fell to the CIA-led drone campaign. Almost all of them were killed in their hideouts in eastern and northeastern Afghan provinces.
Groups already designated include Hezbollah, HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, ISIS, ISIS-Philippines, ISIS-West Africa, and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. In addition to these actions, the Department of the Treasury has also designated 15 terrorists, affiliated with ISIS, ISIS-Philippines, ISIS-Khorasan, al-Qa’ida, HAMAS, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Quds Force, under the same authority.
Once designated as terrorists, all property and interests in property of these persons/groups become subject to US jurisdiction and prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
Noor Wali: Noor Wali, also known as Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, was named the leader of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in June 2018, following the death of former TTP leader Mullah Fazlullah. Under Noor Wali’s leadership, TTP has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly terrorist attacks across Pakistan.
Marwan Issa: Marwan Issa is the deputy commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the operational arm of HAMAS.
Muhammad al-Hindi: Muhammad al-Hindi is the Deputy Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata: Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Higher Military Council, is a commander of the Gaza and North Battalion in the Al-Quds Brigade.
Ali Karaki: Ali Karaki, is a senior leader within Hezbollah’s Jihad Council. He led Mu’awaniyeh 105 (Southern Command) and was responsible for military operations in southern Lebanon. Southern Command was divided into five geographic fronts (Mihwar), each consisting of a group of villages in a geographically contiguous strip.
Muhammad Haydar: Muhammad Haydar is a senior leader within Hezbollah’s Jihad Council. Haydar was the Chief of Bureau 113, and ran Hezbollah networks operating outside of Lebanon and appointed leaders of various units. He was very close to deceased senior Hezbollah official Imad Mughniyah. In 2004, Haydar was elected to the Lebanese Parliament.
Fu’ad Shukr: Fu’ad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah Jihad Council member, oversaw Hezbollah’s specialized weapons units in Syria, including its missile and rocket unit. He is a senior military advisor to Hezbollah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah and played a central role in the planning and execution of the October 23, 1983 US Marine Corps Barracks Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 241 US service personnel.
Ibrahim ‘Aqil: Ibrahim ‘Aqil, a senior Hezbollah Jihad Council member, is Hezbollah’s military operations commander.
Hajji Taysir: Hajji Taysir is an ISIS senior leader and reports to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As the ISIS Wali of Iraq and former Amir(commander) of improvised explosive devices. Hajji Taysir likely ordered IED attacks in the region. He was considered a booby-trap expert while working in ISIS’ booby-trap headquarters in 2016.
Abu Abdullah ibn Umar al-Barnawi: Abu Abdullah ibn Umar al-Barnawi, Amirof ISIS-West Africa, was previously active in Boko Haram.
Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan: Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan is the Amirof ISIS-Philippines and is the mastermind behind the January 27, 2019 Jolo City cathedral bombing that killed 23 and wounded 109.
Hurras al-Din: Hurras al-Din is an al-Qa’ida-affiliated jihadist group that emerged in Syria in early 2018 after several factions broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Faruq al-Suri: Syrian national Faruq al-Suri, also known as Abu Humam al-Shami, is the leader of Hurras al-Din and a former Al-Nusra Front military commander in Syria.
