US adds 3 Boko Haram leaders to list of global terrorists

The US State Department has added three leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram group in Nigeria to the list of Specially Designated Global terrorists. Today's designations mark the first time that members of the Nigerian terror group have been officially recognized as a threat to the United States. The group itself has not been added to State's list of terror organizations.

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, was designated a global terrorist, along with Khalid al Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kamba, both of whom "have ties to Boko Haram and have close links to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," according to the State Department press release. The three Boko Haram leaders pose "a significant risk of conducting acts of terrorism and threaten the security of US nationals or national... [via Long War Journal]