“As recent attacks in Syria have reminded us, ISIS is still able to fund, inspire, and support terrorist acts globally, and we must all remain vigilant. Without crucial financial resources, ISIS cannot sustain its campaigns of violence,” read a statement from the coalition’s Counter-ISIS Finance Group, which met earlier this month.
At the meeting, co-led by the United States, Italy, and Saudi Arabia, member states discussed ISIS fundraising and efforts to counter its financial networks across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
The statement, published by the US Treasury Department, noted the informal and formal methods ISIS used to transfer funds, “including cash couriers, hawalas, and various financial institutions, as well as mobile money transfer applications and virtual asset service providers (VASPs),” and highlighted “the need for a unified and coordinated response to the terrorist financing threat.”
ISIS has sought to take advantage of recent changes in Syria - the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and attacks by Turkish-backed militias on Kurdish-led forces in the north.
Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control the northeast of the country and are an ally of the global coalition, told Rudaw on Thursday that the threat from ISIS has increased and their movements have intensified.
“Nearly 15 of our comrades were martyred in ISIS attacks. The attacks have increased, and the threat remains ongoing,” said Abdi.
ISIS jihadists swept through large swathes of Syria in 2014 and were territorially defeated in 2019, but bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions attributed to the group are common.
