WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Aliaskhab Kebekov, a key militant leader in Russia's North Caucasus, has been added to the US counter terrorism sanctions list, the US Department of the Treasury announced Wednesday.
Kebekov became the leader of the so-called Caucasus Emirate in March 2014, following the death of Doku Umarov.
Kebekov has been on Russia's Most Wanted List since April 2012, accused of participating in an illicit armed formation.
The new sanctions freeze Kebekov's assets and forbid US citizens to conduct business with the militant.
Imarat Kavkaz (Caucasus Emirate) is a fundamentalist Islamist group from the Russian Republic of Chechnya. The group took responsibility for killing 14 police officers and injuring 36 in an attack on a road patrol station in the Chechen capital of Grozny last December. According to Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee first deputy head Yevgeny Ilyin, a number of the group's members are currently fighting in Syria and Iraq for local jihadist groups.
