Donald Trump. Photo: Chris Kleponis - Pool / Getty Images
The U.S. Treasury Department is slapping new sanctions on ISIS facilitators in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This comes in advance of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to several nations, including Turkey, next week.
Why it matters: After the defeat of ISIS’ physical caliphate, there are concerns from the Pentagon that ISIS is building up around the world. ISIS may be dispersed, not destroyed.
The sanctions target:
- Yunus Emre Sakarya and his Turkey-based electronics business, which were helping ISIS obtain drone parts for ISIS.
- Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar, who was helping transfer funds and facilitating weapons purchases for ISIS in the Philippines.
- Mohamed Mire Ali Yusuf and his company are targeted in Somalia.