REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council committee on al Qaeda sanctions blacklisted Nigeria's Islamist militant group Boko Haram on Thursday after the insurgents kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls, diplomats said.

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, 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," he said.

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. Eight other girls were taken from another village earlier this month.

Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language means broadly "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

"Today, the Security Council took an important step in support of the government of Nigeria's efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities," US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement.

"By adding Boko Haram to the UN's 1267 (al Qaeda) sanctions list, the Security Council has helped to close off important avenues of funding, travel and weapons to Boko Haram, and shown global unity against their savage actions," she said.

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