US Adds 7 Daesh Branches, 2 Affiliated Leaders to Terrorist List

WASHINGTON - 28 February 2018: The United States has added seven branches of Daesh terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) and two affiliated leaders to its list of designated terrorists on Tuesday, the US State Department announced in a release.

The four groups are Daesh-Somalia, Jund al-Khilafah-Tunisia, Daesh-Egypt, the Maute Group, and the Daesh-affiliated leaders are Mahad Moalim from Nigeria and Abu Musab al-Barnawi from Somalia.

"We've designated these groups and individuals to illuminate ISIS's [Daesh] global network, and to emphasize that our collective campaign against ISIS is far from over. These designations will deny the ISIS network the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks."

The announcement took place amid Russian Defense Ministry's statements concerning the US-led coalition engagement in the training of former Daesh and Nusra Front terrorists on a base near al-Hasakah in order to create the new militant formation called the "New Syrian Army."

Recently, on February 21, an anonymous source from al-Hasakah told Sputnik that local witnesses had seen US helicopters landing on the territory of a local prison and then leaving. According to the source, the flights were aimed at the evacuation of radicals.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 members is leading military operations against the Daesh group in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's activities in Iraq are conducted in collaboration with Iraqi officials, but those in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the United Nations Security Council.