Abdalaziz Alhamza “RBSS”
People all over the world believe that ISIS is the most powerful and complicated terrorist group in the 20th century. The terrorist group managed to achieve that because of many reasons, such as: the world’s negligence of its first appear, the opposite extremism represented by Al-Assad regime, with its Alawi character, Shiite militias in Iraq and the Kurdish extreme groups in both Syria and Iraq. These militias were the reason that lies behind the recruitment of a lot of Sunni people.
We cannot forget the other facts, ISIS controlled area is known for its oil and agricultural resources and the group’s activities such as smuggling and royalties.
Economic reports indicated that ISIS incomes are about 1 – 4 million dollars a day used to cover the group’s expenses on weapons and salaries for the fighters. The group’s economy depends on arms trade, oil refining and selling, smuggling precious antiquities and imposing taxes.
ISIS made a great effort to be financially independent because they do not trust anyone and do not depend on anyone. The terrorist group wants to reach the self sufficiency grade. The financial analyst Charles Lister, of Brookings Doha Center, says:” ISIS formed a new level of control, confidentiality and coordination through the achievement of a stunning level of bureaucracy, in addition of using various methods of accountability.
Oil plays the main role in the group’s economy; in order to control over oil fields, ISIS fought several fierce battles with the regime and other jihadist groups in Syria such as Al-Nusra Front. Now, the terrorist group dominates 60% of oil fields in Syria as well as a lot of fields in Iraq. One of the most controversial issues is that ISIS sells the oil to the Syrian regime according to several independent sources that involve intimately with the matter.
As we have already said, oil is one of the group’s most important resources, it is estimated that the group gets two million dollars a day by selling the oil. Because of the group’s control over the borders, they smuggle about 30 thousand barrels of crude oil per a day at a price of 25-60 $ per barrel.
Oil is not the only source of funding; ISIS controls water sources as well as large tracts of agricultural land. Wheat, water sources and electricity are among the most important sources currently. The group’s continues advance in northern Iraq allows them to control over huge parts of the five most fertile provinces, which are responsible for producing 40% of Iraq’s wheat crop. We should not forget wheat spoils that ISIS has seized from governmental wheat silos in northern Iraq, which are estimated to contain about 50 thousand tons of wheat.
In terms of water resources, ISIS was able to control over large water bodies in both Iraq and Syria, such as: Mosul Dam in Iraq, which was under ISIS control for a limited period, and Tabqa Dam in Raqqa province, which generates electricity for Raqqa, Aleppo and other cities.
The group’s thoughtful policies and activities show that ISIS might become ever more dangerous than Al-Qaida itself if it continues along the same lines.
