The US State Department will formally designate the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram as a “foreign terrorist organisation” on Wednesday, congressional sources and others have said.
The designation is significant because it directs US law enforcement and regulatory agencies to block business and financial transactions with Boko Haram, which wants to impose Islamic law in northern Nigeria and has ties to Al Qaeda.
The move makes it a crime under US law to provide “material support” to the group. A State Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boko Haram and other splinter Islamist groups are seen as the biggest security threat in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and top oil exporter.
In May, President Goodluck Jonathan increased a military campaign against Boko Haram. His government said last week that it has killed 70 civilians.
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