Efforts to choke off the finances of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) have left it unable to pay its fighters and spurred corruption within the group, AFP reported Thursday (June 9th).
A combination of raids on ISIL cash stores and oil shipments, locking it out of the banking system, and cutting off Iraqi government cash flows to ISIL-controlled areas has left the group struggling financially, said Daniel Glaser, the US Treasury's assistant secretary for terrorist financing.
"As a result of these efforts, ISIL is struggling to pay its fighters and we have seen a number of ISIL fighters leaving the battlefield as their pay and benefits have been cut and delayed," he said.
"When we see indications that ISIL cannot pay the salaries of its own fighters and is trying to make up for lost revenue elsewhere, we know we are hitting them where it hurts," he said.
"ISIL, like any terrorist organisation, needs money to survive," he added.
