US Department of State designates Thulsie twins as global terrorists

South African twin brothers Tony-Lee Thulsie and Brandon-Lee Thulsie have been designated by the United States Department of State as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

The department said the Executive Order 13224, imposed strict sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed‚ or posed a significant risk of committing‚ acts of terrorism that threatened the security of US nationals or the national security‚ foreign policy‚ or economy of the United States.

The designations seek to deny Tony-Lee Thulsie and Brandon-Lee Thulsie the resources they need to plan and carry out terrorist attacks.

It said among other consequences‚ all of Tony-Lee Thulsie and Brandon-Lee Thulsie’s property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked‚ and US persons were prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.

In July 2016‚ the Thulsie brothers were arrested during raids in South Africa for their links to ISIS.

At the time of their arrest‚ the twin brothers had been plotting attacks targeting Jewish individuals and institutions and foreign embassies‚ including the US Embassy in South Africa.

Tony-Lee Thulsie and Brandon-Lee Thulsie attempted to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS and recruited others to join the terrorist group.

Their case will be heard on October 20 at the High Court.