How does Islamic State make its money?

Zee Media Bureau

The Islamic State group has managed to successfully translate territorial control in northern Syria and portions of Iraq into a means of revenue generation.

Here's looking at five ways in which the terrorist organisation is making money.

DONATION

In the early days of the Syrian civil war, the Islamic State group was funded in large part by donations from wealthy residents of Gulf States. A number of fundraisers operating in more permissive jurisdictions — particularly in Kuwait and Qatar — have earlier been soliciting donations to fund the terrorist organisation.

OIL MONEY

The Islamic State rakes in up to USD 50 million a month from selling crude from oilfields under its control in Iraq and Syria, part of a well-run industry that US diplomacy and airstrikes have so far failed to shut down, according to Iraqi intelligence and US Officials. IS sells the crude to smugglers for discounted prices.

SELLING/SMUGGLING OF ANTIQUITIES

The group also has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from smuggling antiquities out of Iraq to be sold in Turkey.

EXTORTION/RANSOM/TRAFFICKING

Other revenue comes from extortion payments, ransom from kidnapped hostages, and outright theft of all manner of materials from the towns the Islamic State group has seized. The organisation earns millions more from human trafficking by selling women and children as sex slaves.

TAX

The group has begun to impose "taxes" on nearly every facet of economic activity, threatening death for those unwilling to pay. An analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations estimated the group was reaping $8 million a month from extortion in Mosul alone.

Once the group took over Mosul, in northern Iraq, and other areas, it grabbed millions of dollars in cash from banks, though not the hundreds of millions initially reported, US intelligence officials say.