Several leaders and members of Islamist militant groups in West Africa have been sanctioned by the US for holding American citizens hostage.
They include leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Mali-based al-Murabitoun.
“JNIM relies on hostage-taking and wrongful detention of civilians in order to gain leverage and instil fear, creating anguish and misery for the victims and their families,” Treasury official Brian E. Nelson said in a statement.
"Treasury will continue to use all tools at our disposal to hold accountable those who seek to hold our citizens hostage," he added.
The sanctioned militants assisted, sponsored, or supported the kidnapping or wrongful detention of US citizens in West Africa, a statement by the US Treasury said.
The US Treasury and Department of State, which both imposed the sanctions, said "all property and interests in property" held by the targeted individuals in the US were "blocked".
Americans are also banned from transacting with the sanctioned militants, who are from Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
The sanctions come as West Africa's troubled Sahel region battles a wave of insurgency from groups linked to both Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
