Terrorist groups in Mali and Yemen that are affiliated with al-Qaeda are “gaining strength,” in large part by taking hostages for ransom, a senior U.S. Treasury official said today.
“The U.S. government estimates that terrorist organizations have collected approximately $120 million in ransom payments over the past eight years,” said David Cohen, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a speech to the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London.
