On January 23, 2018, the US Department of State sanctioned Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) members Siddhartha Dhar and Abdelatif Gaini as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) pursuant to EO 13224.

According to the State Department’s designation statement, “Dhar was a leading member of now-defunct terrorist organization Al-Muhajiroun. In late 2014, Dhar left the United Kingdom to travel to Syria to join ISIS.”

The statement added that Gaini was “a Belgian-Moroccan citizen believed to be fighting for ISIS in the Middle East. Gaini is connected to UK-based ISIS sympathizers Mohamad Ali Ahmed and Humza Ali, who were convicted in the UK in 2016 of terrorism offenses.”

In a separate January 23 action, the US Department of State designated senior al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) member Khalid Batarfi as an SDGT pursuant to EO 13224.

Two days later, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Abdul Samad Sani, Abdul Qadeer Basir Abdul Baseer, and Hafiz Mohammed Popalzai as SDGTs for acting on behalf of the Taliban. According to the statement, all three served on the Taliban Finance Commission.