US designates Muhammad Jamal Network as terrorist organization

The US State Department has reportedly designated the Muhammad Jamal Network (MJN) and its Egyptian founder Muhammad Jamal as terrorist entities.

The State Department said that Jamal learned how to construct bombs in Afghanistan in the late 1980s when he was training with the al-Qaida terror group and upon returning to Egypt in 1990s, became commander and head of Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

According to reports, Jamal formed the MJN after he was released from Egyptian prison in 2011 and established several terrorist training camps in Egypt and Libya.

The State Department noted that Jamal used the AQAP network to smuggle fighters into training camps and he established links with terrorists in Europe.

The Specially Designated Global Terrorists designations authorize sanctions against the named individuals and groups, including barring US citizens from doing business with them, and freezing their assets under US jurisdiction.