UAE- Three front lines to defeat Daesh: paper

10/25/2015 5:18:30 AM

(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))

ABU DHABI 25th October 2015 (WAM) -- A UAE paper has said that the reports that Daesh has been funding its operations by up to $50 million (AED184m) a month by smuggling crude oil to Turkey show just how multifaceted the battle will have to be to neutralise the group.

"This money is Daesh's single biggest source of income and is used to fund its forces and govern areas under its control" said The National in an editorial on Sunday.

"Cutting off these illicit funds has already been identified as an important goal for the US-led coalition. However just like the parallel battles against the group's military forces and the ideological fight against the appeal of its twisted misinterpretation of Islam to some disaffected youth it is proving to be difficult to win. With significant sums of money being made by corrupt officials it will require pressure from the highest levels of government in Turkey for progress to be made.

"The smugglers have already adapted their tactics. When full-sized tankers were attracting air strikes by coalition forces they moved to smaller tankers. This kind of targeting alongside efforts to ensure the Turkish authorities crack down on those willing to buy crude oil at discount rates is needed to defeat Daesh on the financial battleground.

"On the military battleground the London-based analysts IHS Janes reported that air strikes by the US-led coalition are having a limited effect on Daesh's forces. While pressuring the group the coalition is still unlikely to begin regaining territory from Daesh which began expanding into Aleppo last week after failing to make significant gains in the previous three months.

"Success against Daesh is most likely if progress is made on all three battlefields: military financial and ideological. Success in the military sector will not be enough. If also starved of funds it cannot perform the operations of a state and will lose whatever level of support it has from the people under its control.

"With the launch of a compelling counter-narrative to Daesh's corrupted version of the message of Islam there will fewer recruits joining its ranks. None of these victories will be easy but this multifaceted approach will be the way to finally defeat Daesh" concluded the Abu Dhabi-daily.

WAM/Esraa/Moran

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