Iraq: Islamic State Financing Caliphate by Smuggling Oil

Islamic State militants seized four small oilfields when they swept through north Iraq last month and are now selling crude oil and gasoline from them to finance their newly declared “caliphate.” Near the northern city of Mosul, the Islamic State has taken over the Najma and Qayara fields, while further south near Tikrit it overran the Himreen and Ajil fields during its two-day sweep through northern Iraq in mid-June. The oilfields in Islamic State hands are modest compared to...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - mercredi 23 juillet 2014