Follow the money: Iraq jihadists build up war chest

To trace the dramatic rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the jihadists that have spearheaded an offensive that has captured swathes of territory, just follow the money. Thanks to a combination of racketeering, kidnapping for ransom and other criminal activity as well as donations from wealthy private individuals in the Gulf, the group has built up a financial war chest that is the envy of militant groups the world over. And with the recent takeover of Iraq’s second city Mosul, it has further bolstered its finances and capabilities, creating difficulties not only for battlefield commanders but also officials around the world seeking to stem the flow of funds to insurgents. ‘There was a hell of a payday,’ Toby Dodge, head of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, said of the financial bonanza ISIL received from the Mosul takeover. In a matter of days this month, militants led by ISIL overran not only most of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, but also swathes of Kirkuk, Salaheddin and Diyala, and recently widened an existing front in western Anbar province. In addition to military equipment and vehicles, which Iraqi soldiers abandoned when faced with the insurgent offensive, the assault also yielded monetary rewards. Estimates vary as to the extent of the financial boost the Mosul takeover provided the group, but Nineveh provincial council chief Bashar Kiki said the city’s banks had around $400 million in cash reserves. And within a 16-point document issued by ISIL in the wake of the takeover, the group said any money kept by ‘the Safavid government’ – a pejorative reference to Iraq’s Shiite leadership – would be taken over by them ‘for Muslims' interests’. ISIL was already making enormous sums of money in Mosul before the seizure of the city. According to various sources, the group was raking in up to $12 million per month on extortion, ransom payments and corruption in Mosul, a city of about two million people before it was overrun. Thanks to its military successes in neighbouring Syria, where it also operates, it has even been able to capitalise on oil sales. ‘ISIL... has a long history of raising funds through criminal enterprises,’ said Matthew Levitt, a former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the US Treasury Department. Their ability to raise funds directly, without being entirely dependent on wealthy private Gulf donors -- typically a dominant source of funding for jihadist groups -- creates problems for officials seeking to cut off ISIL's funding streams, according to AFP.