US applies sanctions to three Taliban leaders

The move will see three men added to the US terrorist blacklist, banning transactions with Americans as well as freezing their assets and travel. The presidential executive order comes after a top US military commander requested the move.

The men were added to a UN sanctions list earlier in the week. The three insurgent leaders include a financial kingpin of the Haqqani network, a group allied with the Taliban and which is believed to have links with al-Qaeda.
Gul Agha Ishakzai, a childhood friend of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, senior Taliban treasurer Amir Abdullah and Nasiruddin Haqqani from the Haqqani network are being blacklisted.