Washington (Alshahid)- The United States government is blacklisting six people, including Eritrea’s intelligence chief and a senior Eritrean military officer, for their roles in allegedly supporting the Alshabab militant group in Somalia.

The US Treasury officials blacklisted Col. Tewolde Negash and Col. Taeme Goitom, two Eritrean government officials, Suhayl Salim Muhammad Abd-el-Rahman, a Sudanese Alshabab foreign fighter, and Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, Omar Awadh Omar and Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who are three Kenyan Alshabab supporters.

“The United States is determined to target those who are responsible for the ongoing bloodshed and instability in Somalia,” Adam J. Szubin, director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a news release.

“By designating these individuals today we are taking action to support our partner governments in East Africa and the African Union Mission in Somalia in their efforts to dismantle al-Alshabab.”

The US State Department designated Alshabab as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2008, and in April 2010 President Barack Obama authorized sanctions against those engaging in acts threatening the peace, security or stability of Somalia.

Eritrea has long been accused of fomenting violence in Somalia in part to keep its arch-rival Ethiopia, which shares a long border with Somalia, concerned about conditions there.