EU updates Al-Qaida sanctions list data for two designated men

The European Commission has amended the identifying data of two entries on the EU list of persons and entities subject to asset freezing over links to ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida. The change is the 361st amendment to Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 and was made by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2143 of 18 September 2026. It follows a decision of the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee of 4 September 2026 and was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 21 September 2026.

Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002, adopted on 27 May 2002, imposes the freezing of funds and economic resources on persons, groups and entities associated with ISIL and Al-Qaida, and Annex I to that regulation carries the list of those covered. The Commission acted under Article 7(1), point (a), and Article 7a(5) of the regulation. The UN committee’s decision was taken pursuant to Resolutions 1267(1999), 1989(2011) and 2253(2015).

The two entries amended

The identifying data under the heading “Natural persons” in Annex I is amended for:

• Sanaullah Ghafari, born 28 October 1994 or 24 May 1990 in Mir Bacha Kot District, Kabul Province, Afghanistan; Afghan national; passport 01503093 issued in Kabul on 25 August 2016 and expired on 25 August 2021; addresses in Afghanistan (2021) and previously Kunduz; described as leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) and an information technology expert; father’s name Abdul Jabbar, grandfather’s name Abdul Ghaffar; designated on 21 December 2021.
• Abubakar Swalleh, male, born 13 January 1992 or 16 March 1993 in Mengo, Uganda; Ugandan national; passport A00195974 expiring 16 December 2029; held at Luzira Prison, Luzira, Kampala, Uganda; described as an ISIL facilitator providing financial and logistic support, including recruitment, in East and Southern Africa since 2018; phone number +963936016952; designated on 16 June 2025.

What the amendment changes

• Sanaullah Ghafari’s nationality is corrected from “Afghanistan” to “Afghan”, and a typographical error in the passport description (“Afhgan”) is fixed.
• Abubakar Swalleh’s alias Isaac Mupeta is upgraded from a low-quality alias to a good-quality alias.
• A second national identification number is added for Abubakar Swalleh: Z15105123 (Zambian, issued on 5 August 2020, fraudulently acquired under the name Isaac Mupeta, born 9 May 1993 in Lusaka, Zambia, registration number 102523/29/1), alongside CM920231090NZA (Uganda).
• The passport wording for Abubakar Swalleh is standardised from “expiry date on 16.12.2029” to “expires on 16.12.2029”.

Entry into force and effect

Article 1 of the regulation amends Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 in accordance with the annex to the new act. Under Article 2, the regulation enters into force on the day following its publication, that is 22 September 2026. It is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, with no national transposition required. The regulation was done at Brussels on 18 September 2026.

For readers, the practical effect is that banks, payment providers and other obliged entities must screen against the corrected identifiers from 22 September. The funds and economic resources of both men remain frozen, and the update reduces the risk of mistaken matches or missed hits in compliance systems.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series 2026/2143, 21 September 2026, sanctions (official reference: CELEX:L_20262143).