Documents leaked from inside the ISIS territory reveals that wartime pressure of the Islamic State is forcing it to slash its fighters’ salaries by half.
While ISIS operates as a government over parts of Iraq and Syria despite the fact that it might seem like a ragtag group of terrorists and the jihadist army and fighters are handed hands out biweekly paychecks according to ranks and abilities.
According to the Congressional Research Service, ISIS soldiers earn between $400 and $1,200 a month, plus a $50 stipend for their wives and $25 for each child.
But the ISIS is finding out that running a state at war is expensive and the radical group can't afford to pay its soldiers quite as much as it used to following the recent victories for the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.
"On account of the exceptional circumstances the Islamic State is facing, it has been decided to reduce the salaries that are paid to all mujahideen by half, and it is not allowed for anyone to be exempted from this decision, whatever his position," the ISIS' government wrote in a memorandum.
The Islamic State said it "will continue to distribute provisions twice every month as usual" despite the pay cuts.
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a leading scholar who tracks ISIS and one who is also a fellow at the Middle East Forum, obtained the leaked documents.
Al-Raqqa, the seized Syrian city that ISIS declared as its capital, is the place from where sources deliver the documents to Al-Tamimi.
The ISIS memo doesn't say why it's cutting back.
Taxing its population is the primary source of the money that is collected by ISIS.
The U.S.-led coalition's bombing runs is one major source of pressure on ISIS' finances. Taking aim at the ISIS oil business, the air strikes are blowing up oil trucks, storage tanks, mobile refineries and other oil field equipment.
According to the U.S. Treasury, the ISIS was making $40 million a month on oil alone in early 2015. But since the successful bombings and military offensive by the west, ISIS is making only a fraction of that says he US State Department.
Last week, CNN reported that an extremely unusual move was made by the United States military last week as it dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on a building in central Mosul, Iraq, destroying a cache of cash worth "millions.". in this manner, the airstrikes are literally targeting the ISIS money.
The massive cost of operating a functioning government is another source of financial pressure. ISIS provides public services and collects taxes. Therefore payments have to be made for infrastructure and civilian employee salaries.
According to an investigative team of UN researchers, ISIS pays highly skilled engineers and technicians, who can make upwards of $1,500 a month in order to keep the lights on. The cost of bread for the public is also subsidized by the ISIS, experts say.
According to a CNNMoney review ISIS made an estimated $2 billion total even in its most successful year. That's what it cost just to maintain the portion of ISIS territory in Iraq according to the Iraqi government’s previous budget in 2014, claimed David S. Cohen, then the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
(Source:money.cnn.com)
While ISIS operates as a government over parts of Iraq and Syria despite the fact that it might seem like a ragtag group of terrorists and the jihadist army and fighters are handed hands out biweekly paychecks according to ranks and abilities.
According to the Congressional Research Service, ISIS soldiers earn between $400 and $1,200 a month, plus a $50 stipend for their wives and $25 for each child.
But the ISIS is finding out that running a state at war is expensive and the radical group can't afford to pay its soldiers quite as much as it used to following the recent victories for the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.
"On account of the exceptional circumstances the Islamic State is facing, it has been decided to reduce the salaries that are paid to all mujahideen by half, and it is not allowed for anyone to be exempted from this decision, whatever his position," the ISIS' government wrote in a memorandum.
The Islamic State said it "will continue to distribute provisions twice every month as usual" despite the pay cuts.
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a leading scholar who tracks ISIS and one who is also a fellow at the Middle East Forum, obtained the leaked documents.
Al-Raqqa, the seized Syrian city that ISIS declared as its capital, is the place from where sources deliver the documents to Al-Tamimi.
The ISIS memo doesn't say why it's cutting back.
Taxing its population is the primary source of the money that is collected by ISIS.
The U.S.-led coalition's bombing runs is one major source of pressure on ISIS' finances. Taking aim at the ISIS oil business, the air strikes are blowing up oil trucks, storage tanks, mobile refineries and other oil field equipment.
According to the U.S. Treasury, the ISIS was making $40 million a month on oil alone in early 2015. But since the successful bombings and military offensive by the west, ISIS is making only a fraction of that says he US State Department.
Last week, CNN reported that an extremely unusual move was made by the United States military last week as it dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on a building in central Mosul, Iraq, destroying a cache of cash worth "millions.". in this manner, the airstrikes are literally targeting the ISIS money.
The massive cost of operating a functioning government is another source of financial pressure. ISIS provides public services and collects taxes. Therefore payments have to be made for infrastructure and civilian employee salaries.
According to an investigative team of UN researchers, ISIS pays highly skilled engineers and technicians, who can make upwards of $1,500 a month in order to keep the lights on. The cost of bread for the public is also subsidized by the ISIS, experts say.
According to a CNNMoney review ISIS made an estimated $2 billion total even in its most successful year. That's what it cost just to maintain the portion of ISIS territory in Iraq according to the Iraqi government’s previous budget in 2014, claimed David S. Cohen, then the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
(Source:money.cnn.com)
