UN imposes sanctions on Boko Haram

The UN Security Council committee on al-Qaeda sanctions has blacklisted Nigeria's Boko Haram, a month after the armed group kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls.

Nigeria, which until recently had been reluctant to seek international help to combat Boko Haram, requested earlier this week the group be sanctioned. As a result, it is now subject to an international asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

"What will the practical impact of that be? Hard to say but it's an essential step we had to take," said Australian UN Ambassador Gary Quinlan, the al-Qaeda sanctions committee chair, adding that the aim was to "dry up support" for the group.

"We will work to try and make sure that anybody supplying any material assistance to Boko Haram - whether funding or arms - will in fact be stopped, will be deterred by the fact they too will be eligible for listing on the sanctions list."

Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 girls from a secondary school in Chibok in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14 and has threatened to sell them into slavery. Eight other girls were taken from another village earlier this month.

Boko Haram's five-year-old insurgency is aimed at creating an Islamic state in the north of Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.

The UN listing entry describes Boko Haram as an affiliate of al-Qaeda and the Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).