Air raids send $ 800 million in Islamic State funds up in smoke

According to the General Staff of the United States Peter Gersten, between 500 and 800 million in cash destroyed in the attacks. Spike in defections (up to 90%) and decline in new arrivals, especially among foreign fighters. $ 150 million kept in one house in Mosul.

Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The air raids against the Islamic state have led to the destruction of at least $ 800 million in cash, kept within sensitive targets destroyed by coalition fighters says Major General Peter Gersten, the most senior US military official in Baghdad.  He claims US aircraft have struck several warehouses where part of the jihadist group’s funds were held.

The blow to the coffers of Daesh [Arabic acronym of the Islamic State, IS] has also resulted in a peak (up to 90%) in defections and a decline in new arrivals, particularly among foreign fighters.

In 2014, the US Treasury had declared IS the "terrorist group with the best financing system" in history. However, in recent weeks independent analysts have revealed that the jihadi movement “is in the red” and is having to resort to raising taxes or creating new heavy taxes to plug the holes in the group’s finances.

Major General Gersten, deputy commander on the ground for military operations and intelligence, reports that at least 20 air strikes have targeted warehouses where money is kept. However, he has failed to clarify how Washington is aware exactly how much money went up in smoke.

He reports of an attack on a house in Mosul, the jihadist stronghold in northern Iraq, where about 150 million dollars was destroyed. US intelligence sources had given precise instructions on the room of the apartment where the money was kept.

The exact amount of money available to Daesh is unknown; according to some estimates, the funds would total about two billion dollars, with a surplus of 250 million last year. In recent months the Sunni Islamic fundamentalist movement has suffered territorial losses, and its oil wells have been subjected to heavy shelling.

The crisis is confirmed by a note that dates back to last January, according to which the leaders of the jihadist group would cut the salary of militiamen by more than half "due to exceptional circumstances, facing the Islamic state”.

The number of guerrillas joining Daesh for jihad has also decreased: if in the past the figure ranged between 1,500 and 2,000 per month, today it is around 200. White House sources add that in February the number of foreign militants was about 25 thousand, down from 31,500 last year.

• Iraq Syria Islamic
• state jihad fundamentalism airstrikes finances tax