ISIS Making More Than $3 Million A Day From Oil Smuggling, Theft And Prostitution

oge okonkwo

September 15, 2014 5:18 PM

Analysts also say that the group gets revenue from extortion payments, ransom from kidnapped hostages, and outright theft of all manner of materials from the towns the Islamic State group has seized.

U.S. intelligence officials and private experts reveal that Islamic state militants (ISIS) who once relied on wealthy Persian Gulf donors for money, have now become powerful financially, racking in more than $3 million a day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion.

According to a U.S. intelligence official, the extremist group’s resources exceed that “of any other terrorist group in history.”

Reports from analysts also says that ISIS has taken over large sections of Syria and Iraq, and controls as many as 11 oil fields in both countries.

said Denise Natali, who worked in Kurdistan as an American aid official and is now a senior research fellow at National Defense University.

A visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center in Qatar, Luay al-Khatteeb, said:

Analysts also say that the group gets revenue from extortion payments, ransom from kidnapped hostages, and outright theft of all manner of materials from the towns the Islamic State group has seized.

oge okonkwo