Wednesday, August 26, 2015

ISIS Makes Three Times as Much from Oil Smuggling as Previously Thought: Officials


Two U.S. counter-terrorism officials tell NBC News that intelligence gathered from a U.S. raid in Syria details ISIS finances, revealing millions of dollars in oil wealth.

"The more time on target, the better the estimate," a senior U.S. official told NBC News. U.S. intelligence agencies have spent a lot of "time on target" since the target, ISIS, emerged just over a year ago. As a result, their understanding of the group's workings is becoming more intimate.

Oil smuggling, much of it to Turkey, is a key source of income for ISIS. The group uses the money in part to pay its fighters monthly salaries and provide stipends to their families. Foreign fighters tend to be the highest paid of the ISIS recruits, earning as much as a $1,000 a month, according to two Syrian sources. 

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