US blacklists two for alleged ties to al Qaeda, Taliban

The US Treasury Department put two people that it alleged have ties to militant Islamist groups active in Afghanistan on a blacklist on Thursday and banned American citizens from any dealings with them.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said Bakht Gul was a communications official for the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, accused by the United States of involvement in attacks in Afghanistan, and that Abdul Baqi Bari was a money launderer for the Taliban. (Reuters)