Oil and looted antiquities are the main funding sources of ISIS

ISIS has numerous methods of profitability in the use of crime to provide the most amounts of illegal funds for their crimes. Their criminal activity is in the practice of extortion and theft, particularly theft of oil wells and the antiquities sale and smuggling, as well as a lot of ways and methods of criminal looting and arms trade and the imposition of taxes.

Oil is a fundamental pillar of ISIS economic resources, they have fought several wild battles to control the sites and oil wells and the sale of oil, especially in Syria and Iraq, to dominate in the end the equivalent of 60% of the oil fields in Syria, as well as a lot of the assets of the Iraqi oil production on the other side of the border.

On the other hand, the antiquities stolen by ISIS is not less important than oil as it is a principal source of funding for the organization, where they are destructing a rich civilization and a legacy of the country, especially Syria and Iraq. In March 5th, the organization published a video of members destroying the statues traced back to the era before Islam, including the city of Nimrud, which was founded in the third century BC, which is located in the northern city of Mosul.

ISIS showed images of the currencies of gold, silver and copper carved designs bearing the name of the Islamic Caliphate State, written on the coins showing a map of the world with wheat spikes, according to the plan of organization, their currency should be linked to market and to cancel international currencies. It was recognized, that they themselves do not deal in this currency, as its members do not accept non-US dollar salaries.

The strategist’s Iraqi experts stressed the need to fight the authorities dealing of this oil and relics smuggled, as well as to stop the sale of antiquities and human trafficking, because all of these sources of income used by ISIS in payment of salaries and buying weapons and recruiting fighters.

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