Kurdistan
Dindar Zebari, KRG’s Coordinator for International Advocacy, speaking to Rudaw from Berlin on April 13, 2022. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - All groups, whether local or international, who fund the Islamic State (ISIS) and its activities will be held responsible and punished accordingly, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) coordinator for international advocacy told Rudaw's Sangar Abdulrahman on Wednesday.
A delegation from the Kurdistan Region in Berlin revealed the prevalence of entities that financially support the terror group, despite it having been devoid of all territorial control for around three years. In the meeting, light was also shed on the existence of groups in Erbil that fund the organization.
"We have arrested some groups in Erbil and the Kurdistan Region in the past who transferred funds to ISIS-controlled areas and funded ISIS through offices based in the Region," said Dindar Zebari.
"The UN [United Nations] Security Council has decided to punish those who supported ISIS financially," he said, adding that a UN team in Iraq has launched investigations on the case to be handed over to international courts.
According to Zebari, citing a UN report, ISIS receives up to $100 million annually from external funding.
The US-led coalition stated that ISIS "continued to raise funds via various means, including oil smuggling ... kidnapping for ransom, extortion, looting, and the possible operation of front companies," in their 2021 report.
The aforementioned report noted Turkey as a significant intermediary in ISIS's transfer of money between Iraq and Syria, saying that the group uses its trusted partners in Turkey as agents.
Private banks have also delivered funds to ISIS, Zebari noted.
Zebari stressed the issue of vast amounts of money being transferred from Gulf countries "in the name of charity, and the money has reached ISIS-controlled areas."
As the terror group's grasp on the region continues to decline, it resorts to other means to generate funds, including drug smuggling and kidnapping to collect ransom money.
ISIS seized control of swathes of land in Iraq in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across the country's provinces.
In January, Iraqi security forces arrested four civilians who were financing ISIS by means of collecting royalties.
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