Wartime pressure on the Islamic State is intensifying and forcing the Islamic State to make decisions that narrate the real picture of changing dynamics within the group.
Recent victories for the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS mean that the Islamic State can’t afford to pay its soldiers quite as much as it used to. Running a war state is expensive, indeed. Although, ISIS soldiers earn between $400 and $1,200 a month, plus a $50 stipend for their wives and $25 for each child, the salaries per month are now being slashed to half in lieu of the developing tension in the state.
source: theguardian
“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. (Source)
One major source of pressure on ISIS’ finances is the U.S.-led coalition’s bombing runs. Airstrikes are taking aim at the ISIS oil business: blowing up oil trucks, storage tanks, mobile refineries and other oil field equipment.
The result? ISIS was making $40 million a month on oil alone in early 2015, according to the U.S. Treasury. Now, it’s making only a fraction of that, according to the State Department.
source: twitter
Not only have the financial crunches bothered the ISIS, recently another event took place that led the world contemplating over the weakening hold of the state on civilians.
After abducting about 400 hundred people over the weekend ISIS forces in Syria decide to release more than half of them this week.
They freed 270 of the 400 people taken in the city of Deir Ezzor, and among the released were women, children under the age of 14 and men over the age of 55.
Although reports had been released stating that all 400 abductees were killed, the recent release of the news concerning the return of 270 civilians makes one question the position of the ISIS.
source: guardian
In review of the recent developments, we ponder over the ISIS’s declining control and weakening finances. Is the ISIS really struggling?
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