The U.N. Security Council al Qaeda sanctions committee blacklisted Nigeria’s Islamist militant group Boko Haram on Thursday after the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls, diplomats said.
The sanctions on the group include an international asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. Until recently, Nigeria had been reluctant to seek international help to combat Boko Haram.
Boko Haram kidnapped more than 250 girls from a secondary school in Chibok in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14 and has threatened to sell them into slavery.