U.S. Puts Sanctions On Afghan Who Makes IEDs For Taliban

U.S. Army soldiers secure the scene after an improvised explosive device exploded during a road-clearance patrol in Logar Province.

The U.S. government has slapped sanctions on an Afghan national it says has helped manufacture improvised explosive devices for the Taliban.

A statement from the U.S. Treasury said Abdul Samad Achekzai "was responsible for and tasked with IED component procurement and storage, detonator construction, and IED training in support of Taliban fighters in western and southern Afghanistan."

Adam Szubin, the director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, called Achekzai "a key official in the Taliban's IED supply network" and said he was "responsible for untold death and suffering."

The sanctions freeze all of Achekzai's U.S. assets and forbids Americans from doing business with him.

The Treasury statement said Achekzai currently lived in Pakistan's Balochistan Province.