Islamic State relies on money transfers from sympathizers in Turkey, Iraq: Report

Almost two years since its territorial defeat, the terror group still has access to $100 million in cash reserves, according to the US government.
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Syrians load their belongings onto trucks as they prepare to leave the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp holding relatives of alleged Islamic State group fighters in Hasakah province in northeastern Syria, on Nov. 16, 2020. The US Treasury Department reports that the Islamic State has actually moved money through the camp through money services businesses called hawalas. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

The Islamic State terror group was largely crushed by coordinated international effort in 2019, but its networks appear to still have access to an estimated $100 million in cash reserves stashed across the Middle East, the US Treasury Department said.

IS’ monetary reserves are at a historic low since it took over swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014, having since lost all of its tax- and oil-producing territory.

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