Flow of foreign fighters from Europe to ISIL slowing down: NATO sources

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly)The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has attracted 30000 foreign fighters from over 100 countries in the world since 2011 amid a decrease fromEuropebut an increase from Russia particularly among ChechensNATOsources have told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The group also attracts women sources said adding that about 25 percent of the people who come fromEuropeto join ISIL are women. A large number of them are reportedly under 16 years old.

“The jihadist group currently controls the fate of between 5 million and 7 million people. It functions as a government and as a state even if we don’t like to call it a state” a source said.

ISIL controls a territory unlike al-Qaeda in the past controlling about 15 percent of the territory of Syria and 15 percent of the territory in Iraq according toNATOofficials.

“It attracts revenue from professional local taxation services and through local resources. In Syria and Iraq it controls water supplies” the source added.

ISIL does not only destroy artistic treasures in Palmyra and other ancient sites but gains money from the illicit sale of removable and marketable treasures. Last year it also earned 250 million dollars in ransom money and 2 million dollars a day from illicit oil transfers out of the region according toNATOintelligence information.

“ISIL now operates a kind of hybrid organization. It has military tanks aircraft and other equipment mainly stolen from Syrians and the Iraqi military which was mainly supplied by the Americans.

“It can quickly change tactics as we see in response to airstrikes producing small units” the source said.

The jihadist group has very effective social media and spends 1.2 million dollars a year on social media campaigns. ISIL operates about 46000 Twitter accounts and posts some 250000 tweets every day sources said.

International efforts aimed at tackling the jihadist threat have largely failed to stop the flow of new foreign fighters seeking to join terror groups in Syria and Iraq as their number has practically doubled since 2014.

In 2014 the number of foreign fighters in Syria was estimated to be 15000. The U.S. led anti-ISIL coalition has reportedly killed some 10000 jihadists but the group easily replenishes its ranks at a pace of 1000 a month.
By Sevil Erku