ISIS is quickly growing into the most feared terrorist organisation, but very few people know its ideology and working.
Brussels. Paris. Syria. Libya.
ISIS isn’t just a terrorist organisation anymore. It is the cause of various incidents with thousands of deaths and injuries, and irrevocable horror in the minds of millions of people across the world.
But what not many people know is that ISIS is not just a group of extremists but an organisation with a working structure, funding, oil revenues and arms with control over vast stretches of Syria and Iraq.
Organisation Structure
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of ISIS, has two deputies. One looks over Syria, and another, Iraq.
Apart from that, the Leadership Council of his advisers works right under him. There, they make sure that orders are executed, policies are conformed to, and religious differences are handled.
The Cabinet of Managers oversees various departments like Finance and Operations, and Local Leaders report to country deputies about their allotted areas.
Funding and Revenues
The 2015 Study by Financial Action Task Force says that ISIS has five main sources of revenue:
Revenue from occupying territories
Kidnapping
Private donations from Saudi Arabia and Gulf states [Allegations have been made that the Saudi government has directly supported ISIL, but experts remain uncertain, especially considering the Saudi state’s own conflicts with the group]
Material support by foreign fighters
Fundraising through modern communication
Reports claim that ISIS earns almost $33 billion by selling oil illegally from oil wells of places it has captured. Many people help the organisation in exporting oil and importing cash, most of them from the time of Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Another method through which it earns is revenues is trafficking Afghani heroin, through which it earns as much as $1 billion annually.
Fighters
ISIS has about a hundred thousand fighters involved with it, many of whom are foreign fighters from Europe who have settled in Iraq and Syria. Additionally, many militant groups have pledged their allegiance to the organisation.
German Journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer, in his book, ‘Inside IS’ said that a unmarried Jihadist fighters get a monthly compensation of $50 with food and accommodation, whereas for the married fighters, the monetary compensation is generally around $100 a month. In addition, Jihadists get 80 percent of whatever they loot, to motivate them to sign up for dangerous assaults.
Weaponry
ISIS is claimed to have stolen hundreds and thousands of worth of weapons from the Iraqian and Syrian military installations. There have also been various examinations of weaponry and among them, many of the weapons bear the stamp “Property of US Government.”
Adept at social media, and proclaiming itself as a worldwide caliphate with its goal to “terrorize, mobilize, polarize”, ISIS has released numerous reports on its operations, perhaps in an attempt to impress potential funders. ISIS is perhaps the richest terrorist organisation in the world. It ISIS works like a billion-dollar company, perhaps better funded than a small country.
See how ED predicted the future of the world, with organisations like ISIS:
http://edtimes.in/2016/03/predicting-the-future-of-terrorism-isis-terrorists-world.html
