The U.S. government on Wednesday designated Mohamed Lahbous, a member of the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), as a specially designated global terrorist for his involvement in terrorist activities.

All of his property subject to U.S. jurisdiction is blocked and U.S. citizens are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Lahbous or to his benefit, the State Department announced in a statement.

Lahbous has participated in a number of attacks, including the October 2011 abduction of three aid workers from a refugee camp in western Algeria, and a June 2012 attack in Ouargla, Algeria, which killed one and injured three, the statement said.

Lahbous has also been involved in arms trading and drug trafficking in North and West Africa, it added.

The MUJWA was created in September 2011 after its members broke off from the al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in order to spread into West Africa, and was designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in December 2012. Endi

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