Treasury Department levies new sanctions on Islamic extremist financiers

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on eight people it says have helped finance or facilitate the movement of foreign fighters joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the Nusra Front, two extremist groups that have been the subject of recent American military strikes.

The individuals were designated "global terrorists," an action that cuts them off from the U.S. banking system and freezes any assets that may have in the U.S.

The department also sanctioned three individuals and a charity the U.S. says supported a southeast Asian al Qaeda affiliate, Jemaah Islamiya, that is accused of bombing a Bali nightclub in 2002, killing more than 200. The Treasury Department said Jemaah Islamiya has facilitated sending Indonesian Islamic extremists to Syria to fight.

The two Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants named, Tarkhan Batirashvili and Tariq al-Harzi, are both senior figures in the organization based in Syria, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

Batirashvili is described as a Georgian national who has held a number of top military positions within ISIS, and is credited with leading the military campaign that took some of the group's current territory in northern Syria.

The statement identifies Al-Harzi as ISIS' "Amir of suicide bombers," saying he recruited foreign fighters for suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria.

Among the Nusra front financiers named, three are based in friendly countries, according to the Treasury statement: Turkey, Jordan and Kuwait.

The Nusra front, the al Qaeda affiliate that is fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, is working in partnership with the Khorasan group, the al Qaeda cell that was bombed by the U.S. Monday, American officials say.