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Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/15/iraq-isis-arrest-jihadists-wealth-power
ISIS' $2 Billion Jihadist Network
(Guardian-UK) Martin Chulov - Two days before Mosul fell to the Islamic insurgent group ISIS, Iraqi forces captured more than 160 computer flash sticks which contained the most detailed information yet known about the terror group. The treasure trove included names and noms de guerre of all foreign fighters, senior leaders and their code words, initials of sources inside ministries and full accounts of the group's finances. The information detailed how, in less than three years, ISIS had grown from a ragtag band of extremists to perhaps the most cash-rich and capable terror group in the world. ISIS secured massive cashflows from the oilfields of eastern Syria, which it had commandeered in late 2012, and from smuggling all manner of raw materials pillaged from Syria, as well as priceless antiquities from archaeological digs. This has now been supplemented with money robbed from banks and the value of looted military supplies.