Flashback : June 2012, Obama 'admin' designate three members of Boko Haram as terrorists,'Will diminish the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks'

Flashback : June 2012, Obama 'admin' designate three members of Boko Haram as terrorists,'Will diminish the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks'(Reuters).

The United States on Thursday named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as "foreign terrorists," the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa's most populous nation.

The State Department identified the three as Abubakar Shekau, calling him the "most visible" leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda's north African wing.

"These designations demonstrate the United States' resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks," it said, saying that Boko Haram or associated militants were responsible for more than 1,000 deaths in the past 18 months.

The action by the State and Treasury Departments, first reported by Reuters on Wednesday, followed growing pressure on the Obama administration to take stronger action against Boko Haram, which has stepped up attacks on Christian places of worship this year in its drive to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.

U.S. officials say the decision to list individual Boko Haram members, rather than apply the more sweeping "Foreign Terrorist Organization" label to the group as a whole as some U.S. lawmakers have demanded, reflected a desire not to elevate the group's profile.

"We took this measure to designate these three because they are clearly kingpins of Boko Haram and clearly all of them have advocated terrorism as a weapon," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing.


"We're continuing to look at the question of a broader designation."

Two Republican lawmakers who led the campaign for a broader designation said the move against the three was insufficient, saying the intelligence community needed every available tool to combat Boko Haram

"Given Boko Haram's trajectory and intent to carry out terrorist attacks against Western targets, including possibly the Homeland, we must take the growing threat seriously," Representatives Peter King and Patrick Meehan said in a statement.Read the full story here.