The alleged bomb-maker in a 2015 terrorist attack in Paris and another Islamic State (IS) security officer have been designated as global terrorists, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.
“The IS leaders namely Ahmad Alkhald and Abu Yahya al-Iraqi are “specially designated global terrorists” aimed at denying them resources needed to carry out further terrorist attacks.
“The designation also means all of Alkhald’s and al-Iraqi’s property in the U.S. is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.
“Alkhald is a bomb-maker responsible for the deaths of numerous civilians in Europe,’’ the State Department said.
The Syrian national was the explosives specialist in the terrorist cell that carried out the November 2015 attacks in Paris and the March 2016 attacks in Brussels.
Alkhald helped plan the Paris attacks and make the explosive belts used in that plot.
He returned to Syria shortly before the Paris attack.
The State Department said that from there, he guided IS operatives in Europe on making the bombs used in the March 2016 Brussels attacks.
“Abu Yahya al-Iraqi, also known as Iyad Hamed Mahl al-Jumaily, is a senior IS figure who reports to I S leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“Al-Iraqi has reportedly played a key role in security for al-Baghdadi and oversees Islamic State security in Iraq and Syria.’’
