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The U.S. has designated Horas al-Din, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group operating in Syria, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
In an official statement, the Department of State said that the designation, that was announced on the 18th anniversary of the 9\11 attacks, will deny terrorists the resources to plan and carry out attacks.
“Terrorist designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments,” the statement reads.
Horas al-Din was formed in early 2018 by a group of al-Qaeda veterans who defected from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The terrorist group has now more than 2,000 fighters in Syria’s Greater Idlib.
General Commander and key founder of Horas al-Din, Faruq al-Suri, was also sanctioned by the Department of State.
In late June, the U.S.-led coalition struck a headquarters of the terrorist group in western Aleppo, killing several of its foreign commanders. This is the only known U.S. attack on the group, so far.
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